


Leverage

by axzanier



Series: Sideverse of Alyx Silver AU [2]
Category: The Invisible Man (TV 2000), The Pretender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 23:03:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 82,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3465311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axzanier/pseuds/axzanier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A  joint mission leads to the discovery of another secret project at The Centre.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title:  _Leverage_

Author: A. X. Zanier

Status: WIP

Rating: R (Language, violence, sexual situations, the usual)

Fandom:  _The Invisible Man_  (SciFi, 2000), The Pretender (NBC 1996)

Disclaimer: a) The characters and basic story ideas of  _The Invisible Man_  are the property of others including, but not limited to Matt Greenberg, Studios USA, Stu Segall Productions and NBC Universal. b) The characters and basic story ideas of  _The Pretender_ are the property of others including, but not limited to 20th Century Fox Television, MTM Entertainment, Mitchell/Van Sickle Productions, and NBC Studios. Any additional characters or story ideas are mine. I make no money from this intellectual exercise. c) This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any opinions or views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the author and are used for story-telling purposes only.

Sequel/Series: XOver between The Invisible Man (AS AU) and The Pretender

Timeline: Good effing question. Post-The Road Not Taken, but in the sideverse that includes The Ghost in the Crowd. Approximately one year after Island of the Haunted in the Pretenderverse. This story takes place in November of 2003.

Spoilers: Probably. Does it really matter after all these years?

 

**Leverage**

 

" _If knowledge is power, clandestine knowledge is power squared; it can be withheld, exchanged, and leveraged." Truer words were never spoken, especially in the spy biz, where pretty much anything can be used against you. Now, I had my share of knowledge, knew stuff that your average spook would scoff at, hell, I was the invisible man for cripe's sake, and yet… Yet, it took mere days for our entire world to be tipped on its side._

_Sometimes what you_ _**need** _ _to know is exactly what you don't_ _**want** _ _to know._

 

**Eureka Montana, Northern Rockies**

**Near the Canadian border.**

 

Hobbes pulled to a stop in front of the motel with a sigh of relief. It was one of those quaint places that had a main building with the office, a restaurant, meeting rooms (probably used for birthday parties and wedding receptions), and a pool that would be closed this time of year, the patently fake blue water covered to keep leaves and other detritus out. All the 'rooms' were individual cabins lining the scenic barely two-lane road that wended it's way up the mountain side for a couple of miles. There were obvious pathways that cut across the zig-zagging road, which meant even if your cabin was off in the proverbial boonies you would only have a quarter-mile to actually walk to reach the lobby.

They were late, though it wasn't really his fault, between the later than planned start, the unfamiliar twisty mountain roads, and the deep shadows created by a combination of the tall trees and setting sun they'd missed their turn off twice; the map and Fawkes' lack of navigation skills not helping much either. They had to follow some tiny switchback local road to their destination; Mountain High Resort, just northeast of the town of Eureka. The airport had been tiny, the so-called town miniscule, at least compared to what he was used to in SoCal.

He only hoped their contact, one Special Agent Miner of the ATF, wouldn't take offense to their tardiness. They would have called to let him know of the delay, but had no direct contact number for him. All information had gone through the Official up until now. Why the Official had pulled strings to get them in on this job, whatever it may be, as they had not been read in prior to their departure, Hobbes had no clue, but he had and now they were stuck out in the middle of nowhere, far away from home, with limited supplies and contacts. Then again, the kid had come along, and she could find contacts in the middle of a desert with no one around for miles. Just one of her more unique skills. And one he was more than willing exploit.

Fawkes gazed about the area with wary eyes, taking in everything as they crunched their way up the gravel drive following the posted directions to the main lodge building. They had been given a basic info packet on the resort and had been content that it would be more than some piece of crap no-tell motel where sleeping on the bed might just endanger life and limb. One final right revealed the huge lodge where they would be partaking of most of their meals... and meeting their contact.

Hobbes parked in one of the many empty spots and turned off the engine of the rental SUV. He opened the door and climbed out, noticing the quite dramatic drop in temperature even compared to the airport they had landed at earlier. Of course, that had been down in the lowlands; they'd been driving steadily uphill since leaving the small airport. It was freezing compared to southern California and he reached back in to grab the jacket he'd wiggled out of in the warm vehicle. He tried to convince himself being this far north in the Rockies actually made some sort of sense this time of year. A light dusting of snow already lay on the ground and more was sure to be on the way, within days at the most. He wanted to be gone from here long before that happened.

Bobby glanced at Fawkes as he climbed out of the passenger side and stretched his arms up over his head to work out the kinks from the drive. Even the oversized SUV wasn't big enough for  _his_  long legs. Bobby looked over the area, making note of where everything and everyone was. He wanted no surprises on this little jaunt. Not that there was much to see with the last of the evening light swiftly shifting from deep orange in what must be the west to indigo in the opposite direction. Darkness came early this time of the year, thanks to being so far north and the end of Daylight Savings Time just a few weeks prior.

Darien had opened the rear door, checking on Alyx who was probably still out like a light. She'd arrived in San Diego just hours before they'd left, after spending nearly a week on a solo mission she'd been sent on. She hadn't even slept before leaving on this trip. In fact, she'd barely had time to say 'hi' to them before debriefing and then rushing home to pack for this bit of nonsense. They were all learning to hate these missions where they didn't find out what was going on until after they arrived.

Fawkes ducked in, trying to encourage her back into consciousness. She'd been unable to sleep on the flight, which was nothing new, but meant she was running on fumes and would need a solid eight, or for her five or six, hours of sleep before being in the frame of mind needed for this job. Not a big deal even if he would rather she were there for the initial meet and greet, they were more than capable of filling her in tomorrow if she couldn't keep her eyes open tonight.

Bobby turned away, searching for their contact, a fruitless effort given they had no idea what the mook looked like. You'd think that  _he'd_  be on time even if they had failed to be. Then again, he'd have to be a fool, or someone from far colder climes to want to wait outside in these chilly, and swiftly falling as darkness encroached, temperatures. If he wanted to be inside, the kid would want it even more as she had a very low tolerance for cold temperatures. Fawkes just had no padding anywhere on his body, and hopefully had packed accordingly, though knowing his partner as well as he did, suspected the warmest thing he'd brought was a t-shirt or two, long-sleeved if he was lucky. In other words, typical Fawkes. Then again, with the kid back, she'd be certain to keep him warm, even if they didn't share bed space.

Fawkes stood up straight, met Bobby's eyes over the top of the vehicle, and grinned. "She's alive... sort of."

"She need to crash?"

Fawkes nodded. "Soon, but she'll make it through the meet and greet." He stepped back and Hobbes could only presume Alyx had made her exit from the SUV, he couldn't tell as she was too short to be seen.

"I could have stayed home," she grouched, her voice carrying just fine in the chill air.

"S'okay, kid. Happy to have you along," Hobbes said, trying to placate her. Far as he was concerned she was justified in a little crankiness and he knew once she had some real sleep she'd be just fine. Hell, given how long the day had been they all had reason to be tired and cranky, they just needed to swallow it down for a bit and find their contact to get this party started.

The car door swung shut and the couple walked about the back end to join him in staring up at the building before them. "We waiting for him to come out?"

Alyx shook her head and shivered. "Yeah... no. Besides I smell fresh brewed coffee inside and I could use a cup or three about now."

Fawkes snorted in amusement. "That's my girl and her caffeine addiction." He draped an arm over her shoulders, volunteering some of his body heat to keep her from turning blue.

Together the three of them mounted the brightly lit steps and entered the main lobby area of the resort.

 

~^~^~

 

Jarod watched the men get out of the black SUV, recognizing the pair immediately from the dossiers he had acquired. The taller of the two - Fawkes, Jarod reminded himself, Darien Fawkes - was the mystery of the pair. Until a few years ago he'd been living the life of a career criminal, sentenced to life stint in prison on a third strike in Bakersfield... but he'd never made it there. Within weeks he had been free and working for the semi-secret Agency as one of their top agents. Even with Jarod's resources, he'd hit more stonewalls than a drunk in a Porsche.

Agent Hobbes had been simple in comparison. He had records dating back to his acceptance into West Point. The drug list alone was nearly three pages long. It wasn't too surprising that he had ended up with the Agency. They might be underfunded, but they had the knack of acquiring just the right piece at just the right time, and these two men together had worked wonders for the aging Agency. Jarod just wasn't quite sure why or, for that matter, how.

Why the Agency had volunteered to assist on this matter Jarod had been uncertain, but as no one else seemed to be interested, he'd take the help and be thankful of it. If he played his cards right he'd have access to even more resources, and possibly make some new allies that he could call upon if needed again.

He observed them through the window of the conference room he'd reserved for their use in the event they would rather their cabin remain private, much as Jarod preferred. He had plenty to hide and even though he'd be putting his trust in these agents, would not risk the truth of who he was... or wasn't being exposed. They surely had their own secrets to hide, which was the nature of the beast when it came to spy craft.  _Everyone_  had something to hide. That had to be the one truism Jarod had learned since embarking on this journey of redemption.

As he continued watching, Fawkes moved to the back of the vehicle and ducked inside, presumably to grab their gear, which didn't make sense, as they weren't yet at their cabin. So when after a few moments he backed out and held out a hand to assist a  _third_  person Jarod felt more than a touch confused as he had not been expecting any additional personnel. Then  _she_  stepped into the light of the building and his heart all but stopped in his chest.

He shook it off quickly. She wasn't the first woman he'd met, never mind redhead, or agent for that matter. Assuming she was an agent, that is, though why one of them would bring along a child... They wouldn't, it was that simple, which meant she was an agent no matter how young she appeared to be. And that appearance was young indeed; early twenties at the most. He frowned slightly, certain this was neither the time or place to be shepherding about a green agent. Had the Official perhaps misunderstood the urgency and crisis level of the mission? Jarod didn't believe so, but it could be possible he had failed in relaying the potential dangers involved.

He allowed his concerns to fall to the wayside for the time being, deciding to wait until he'd spoken to the threesome before contemplating any changes to the plan. She may very well not be the hindrance he feared, in fact, she might very well be the lead, though he doubted that given her apparent youthful age.

He lost sight of them once they had mounted the steps and entered the building. He waited a few minutes, giving them a chance to check in and catch their breath after a long drive. He looked over everything he had set up in the room, knowing he was missing a piece or two to the puzzle, but reasonably satisfied with the work he had done so far. Wasn't often he had to go back and deal with someone he had already made an example of, but there was often a first time for everything, and the odds certainly dictated that it happen eventually. It just caught up with him sooner than he'd thought.

When he stepped out into the main lobby, the trio had found their way to the coffee brewed twenty-four/seven and were preparing cups for themselves. This gave him another few moments to observe the trio as they talked quietly amongst themselves. He got the distinct impression that they had worked together for some time and, given the casualness of the discussion, were more than just co-workers. The girl was far from subordinate to the two men, in fact, they treated her as an equal, which Jarod found very interesting. Perhaps she was a prodigy? Had been sent to the Farm and hired by the Agency straight out of college. That would fit with the age he had pegged her at. And yet... yet it didn't seem to fit, visual cues seeming to suggest she was older than her appearance would decry.

She turned about first, her eyes meeting his with a hint of suspicion in them. Even though separated by more than a dozen feet her eyes caught and grabbed a hold of his, a startlingly light shade that seemed to be not of nature, and made him wonder if she wore contacts to achieve the effect.

She produced a smile for him. "Agent Miner?"

Her partner's turned about and locked their attention on him as well. Jarod strode forward as casually as he could, some gut instinct making him want to drop into a defensive crouch, the focus of all three of them sending thrills of danger through his veins. Not a single one of them appeared to be the least bit threatening, but combined... Somehow, he sensed that together they were a force to be reckoned with. "Yes, Agent..." He left the sentence hanging intentionally, hoping she would fill it the very large blank he had where she was concerned.

She quirked one eyebrow upwards and sipped at her coffee before answering, "Silver."

"Kid, now is not the time to be enigmatic," Hobbes grumbled, holding out his free hand to be shaken, which Jarod did without hesitation. "Bobby Hobbes." He released Jarod's hand and nodded towards the other man. "Darien Fawkes."

The taller man held out his hand for the mandatory handshake, the sleeve of his coat pulling back slightly to reveal a watchband and a partial view of a tattoo on the inside of his wrist. "So, why have we been dragged to within a stone's throw of the Canadian border?"

Jarod shook his head. "You've had a long day, it can wait until the morning." He meant the words; all three of them looked exhausted and in need of some real sleep before he explained to them the mess he had dragged them into the mountains for.

Agent Silver tipped her head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. "No, it can't."

If Jarod were surprised, he covered it well. It really couldn't wait, but he'd be more than willing to defer to their needs at this moment. He still might fail to read people correctly, but remained certain that they would be at their best once they'd rested. Still, he could not deny that she was correct; they needed to begin sooner rather than later. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment. "No, it can't," he agreed. He turned slightly and gestured towards the conference room. "We can get started right now, if you like."

He watched as Hobbes glanced at his partners with a questioning look on his face, both gave nods, and he said, "Sounds like a plan. Probably need to keep the coffee flowing, but we'll be good for a few hours at least."

"That I can arrange, and a couple hours should be more than adequate to give you an overview of the situation." Jarod led the way into the conference room and waved at what he had ready for them. Agent Silver shut the door behind them, but remained in place as her eyes roved over everything in the room. Fawkes and Hobbes walked about the perimeter, taking in as much as they could, pausing now and then to look over certain items in detail.

It remained quiet for several long minutes, but eventually they had absorbed enough data. Fawkes spoke up first, "Navshots?"

Hobbes groaned, "Again?"

"You've dealt with them before?" Jarod asked in obvious surprise. He hadn't expected that twist, but realized it might very well explain why the Agency had wanted in on this so badly.

"Few years ago," Darien confirmed with a nod.

"How big was the one you dealt with," Jarod asked in real curiosity.

"Rifle sized, with an optional tripod mount," Hobbes told him, moving to join his partner and get a look at the current version.

"Ah. This is the Mark III. Oversized handgun in size and far more portable," Jarod explained, facing the two men, but paying far more attention to Agent Silver who had not moved other than to sip from her coffee cup.

"Far more deadly as well, I imagine," Hobbes grumbled with a frown adorning his features. Whatever their experience had been with the previous version, it had not been pleasant.

"We're nowhere near a military base," Fawkes turned to Hobbes, "ain't no way we're looking at more grunts stealing and selling to the enemy. That'd be too clichéd even for us."

Hobbes snorted in amusement. "Don't mean it ain't true."

"But it isn't," the first words she'd spoken since entering the room and while soft were still enough to silence all of them. "Hurst is the key, is he not?" She turned to Jarod, who nodded confirmation. "Goodrowe must be blackmailing him into delivering the weapons."

Jarod blinked, impressed given she had to have read over all the information without having moved any further into the room. "Yes, he is."

"Goodrowe," Hobbes muttered, "why do I know that name?"

"Arms bust about a year ago, Geoffery Goodrowe was indicted, but never went to trial. One of his toady's took the rap, and the boss walked free and clear," Alyx stated, her focus on nothing in the room while she recited the information in an oddly colorless tone. She blinked back to full awareness to see Jarod's quiet observation of her. "Yes?"

Her question could have been about his observation of her or confirmation of her information. While tempted to respond to the former he chose the latter. His odd... attraction to her not what he wanted to focus on at the moment. "Correct. And he wasted no time picking up where he left off."

"Why Hurst?" Fawkes asked, turning back to the information pinned up on the whiteboards.

Hobbes tapped a particular sheet of paper. "Ah, gunsmith and distributor." He turned about to Jarod. "Handles military contracts. He had the access Goodrowe needs."

"Exactly. He is already in possession of several dozen completed models and awaiting confirmation of delivery destinations." Jarod strode over to stand by the two men. "Goodrowe wants them diverted to his recipients."

"That's not good," Fawkes stated dryly. "How'd you know Goodrowe was up to his old tricks, again?"

Jarod shrugged, not about to tell them the truth. "ATF has been keeping tabs on him all along," he told them, hoping they wouldn't dig too deeply. He would just need to keep their attention on the here and now.

"But he's been hiding his tracks much better since his arrest," Silver pointed out, eyes narrowing slightly, as if she  _knew_  he was shoveling bullshit as fast as he could. "So, what made you suspicious enough to dig deeper?"

Jarod shrugged, trying to remain casual and confident when part of him wanted to run away, certain that she knew he was not Agent Miner... which was impossible. She was clearly very observant and had simply pieced together what she could of the puzzle and had requested the how of his investigation. "Some of the wire taps are still in place, and while he has indeed been more careful, his encryption code was not that difficult to decipher."

"But you weren't able to convince anyone else in the department that something hinky was going on."

Jarod spun back around at Hobbes' words, not really used to working with people that caught on so fast. The surprise must have been written all over his face.

"I know we don't look like much, but we're not stupid," Hobbes told him with only a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "How you dragged the Official into this is a story I'd love to hear."

Jarod managed a shaky smile. "Maybe when all this is over... that's if you aren't planning on walking away."

Fawkes chuckled. "Not a chance. You have her interest." He waved at Agent Silver. "What say you give us an overview of the situation and we'll go from there," he suggested.

Jarod smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

"Broots, I'm tired of playing cat and mouse with him. Where is he?" Miss Parker glared down at the man who tried to hold her gaze for a moment, but turned away and back to his computer. Her gaze was just too forceful, too intimidating, and, more often than not, too dangerous. Besides she wanted to go home and try to get some sleep for a change.

"I'm working on it. We haven't picked up his trail since he left New York," Broots explained, and cringed as if waiting for the storm that he felt certain was about to break upon him. "He's adapted to the times and is very good at hiding his tracks."

"Of course he's adapted, that's what he was designed to do," she groused, but without any real force. She knew how smart Jarod was, why else would she have spent the better part of a decade chasing him around the globe. She'd come close, hell had succeeded in catching him a couple of times, but he always escaped again. If there was no information, then there was no information. Jarod would let them know where he was when he was ready to and not one moment before. So, she stood there quietly for a few minutes just to watch Broots shake in fear and then, after giving him a curt nod, turned and walked away.

Behind her, she heard Broots sigh with relief, the clicking of keys echoing off the walls of the room as she swung open the door and stepped into the hall. Broots wasn't the only place to get information on the wayward child of The Centre.

Miss Parker entered Sydney's office, and presumptuously sat on the edge of his desk.

He closed the file he'd been reading and looked up to meet her eyes. "No luck I take it?" he asked her.

"Luck? No, no luck. He's gone to ground for some reason," she informed him, her blue eyes watching him carefully. "Have you heard from him?" She tried to make the question sound casual, but apparently didn't do a very good job of it.

Sydney shook his head. "I haven't heard from Jarod in weeks. Why, if I may ask?" He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers together, his entire demeanor calm and composed.

"Aside from my dear brother Lyle breathing down my neck?" She paused twisting the necklace she wore. "I just have the oddest feeling that something is coming. And it involves Jarod." After their last adventure and the revelations about their families, it was little wonder she felt there were signs and portents everywhere. It didn't help that Raines was now in charge and pushing harder than ever for the capture of Jarod.

"I'll speak to Angelo. Perhaps he can come up with something," Sydney offered, his look enigmatic as always.

"Do that. Let me know if he comes up with anything." She stood up and moved to leave the room. "It's important Sydney. I'm not sure why, but it is."

She shut the door behind her, snapping her heels on the floor and wishing she hadn't given up smoking.

 

**Mountain High Motel**

**Eureka Montana**

**Northern Rockies**

**Near the Canadian border.**

 

Alyx had been listening to her partners argue for fifteen minutes, and was getting tired of it. The problem was the sleeping arrangements. Jarod had reserved a cabin for the boys, but since he did not know she was going to be along, there was only one bedroom with two oversized twin beds. And while Alyx didn't much care if she slept with either of the men, there just wasn't any room in the beds for two. Darien and Hobbes were both determined to be gallant and give up their bed. She, however, had already made the final decision on the matter, and was just letting them argue to blow off some steam before informing them, taking a shower, and crashing. She'd had a long couple of days after an exceeding long and exhausting job and wanted nothing more than a couple of days off to rest and recharge.

Not bloody likely, as the good Keeper would say.

She had figured out that the sofa was a sofa _bed_  and she'd be more than comfortable there, in fact, it was bigger than either of the beds the boys would be sleeping in and, even with the mission facts rattling about in her brain, she would sleep well for the first time in over a week. Being with Darien made all the difference in the world, his immediate presence helping her to remember who she really was after spending far too much time deep in a role.

She heard the soft knock on the door and, after a light scan, confirmed it was indeed Agent Miner standing outside. She padded over to the door and swung it open taking a moment to assess the man again. He probably had a decade on her in age, but much like herself, it didn't show on his face. There was an innocence about him that confused her, and it made him feel far younger than he truly was. "Agent Miner, what can I do for you?" She stepped aside and waved for him to enter.

"Jarod, please, there's little reason to be so formal and I get the impression that you and your partners work better that way." He stepped past her and into the sitting area of the cabin, assessing the room the same way Darien might.

"All right, Jarod, you may call me Alyx." She shut the door and sighed as the bickering in the other room upped in volume. "Have a seat. I'll see if I can break up the argument."

"Problems?" Jarod turned about to watch her, a look of concern crossing his features as he shrugged out of his coat. The temperature had dropped dramatically since their arrival, and the threat of snow hung in the air as well as the clouds that had rolled in.

"Nah, they're just trying to out-gentleman each other." She walked to the bedroom door and swung it open. "Boys, stop arguing, we have company."

"Alyx, you take the bedroom, we'll manage," Bobby ordered, glaring at Darien.

Her quick response was, "No."

"Good, that's set... What?" Bobby looked confused, not an unusual state for him sad to say.

"I said 'No.'  _I_  will sleep on the couch," Alyx informed them in no uncertain terms.

Both Bobby and Darien opened their mouths to argue, but she ran right over the top of them.

"I don't sleep nearly as long as either of you and, besides, I'm the only one short enough to sleep on the couch." No need to inform them about the bed she'd found inside, she walked in between the men and set a hand on each of their arms. "I've been sleeping on the floor, when I've slept at all, for two weeks. The couch will be heaven."

Darien tipped his head down and shuffled his feet a bit. "If you're sure?"

"I'm sure," she assured him, shoving him with an elbow. "Now, Agent Miner has stopped by, can we at least pretend to be normal humans?"

"All right, kid. As usual you have a better grasp on reality than we do." Bobby walked to the doorway of the room.

"Of course I do, Bobby, I'm a woman," Alyx lilted, causing him to stop dead before he quite made it through the door. He stood frozen in place by her off-handed comment, so she pushed past him and out into the main room while Darien tried desperately not to laugh aloud.

Bobby glared at his taller partner. "The scary part is she may very well be right."

Jarod stood by the kitchenette, doing his best to act as if he had not heard every word they had spoken, but the amusement showed in his eyes. Clearly, not disagreeing with her assessment of the situation. "Is she often right?"

"Too often," Darien answered around a yawn. "Sorry, long day is catching up with me."

"Getting old there, my friend," Hobbes said with a smile. "What can we do for you, Agent Miner?"

Jarod shrugged. "Just wanted to make certain you were settling in okay."

Alyx bounced one eyebrow upwards; while not a lie, exactly, that answer most certainly wasn't the whole truth. "We're just fine and you're shoveling bullshit."

She felt the shock and concern that shot through him at her words, he did not like that she had picked up on that, and he was truly curious as to what he had done to give the game away. "I'm not sure I understand," he tried.

Bobby came to his rescue. "Ignore the kid, she's been on the job, and her warning system is still set on high."

"You came straight from another job? Why?"

"Because I could," she answered, wondering why he was so curious, and why she wanted to tell him the truth, that she'd begun having dreams about her friends that left her feeling concerned they were heading into trouble and would not be able to get out of it easily.

"Boss works her too hard, that's why," Darien explained with a shake of his head. "You don't trust us... yet."

Alyx snorted, not the least bit surprised that Darien had picked up on that so quickly. Not that it mattered, not yet anyway. They'd figure out how to work together or this would be a disaster from the start and people would get hurt. "You have new info for us?" Definitely not out of the realm of possibility, they had gone their separate ways a couple hours ago.

Jarod nodded. "Timetable has moved up based on the most recent communications I've intercepted. I was hoping we could rough out a plan tonight and move on the detailed surveillance tomorrow morning, but it is quite obvious all of you need sleep. "

Hobbes scrubbed his face with both hands, as tired as the rest of them. "You thinking two teams?"

Jarod nodded. "I had plans for three set, but it can easily be modified for four."

Hobbes nodded. "That'll work. We need to cover the warehouse and Hurst's estate, yes?"

"Yes. And confirm the presence of the Navshots, and..."

"And a whole lot of other shit, before we can arrest anyone," Darien finished. "Meet bright and early in the conference room?"

"Eight a.m., if you can."

Darien made a face, not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but he'd learned to endure for the sake of the job. Luckily, on this occasion he hadn't been up staking out a place all night and then expected to show up for a meeting first thing in the morning.

"We'll be there," Hobbes assured the ATF agent. "You have point on this one, we're here to assist."

Jarod cocked his head to the side. "Technically true, but I doubt any of you like to play the part of subservient. I have no pride to be damaged, if you see a better way, by all means let me know. Based on your records - those I was able to access - you are all exceedingly good at your jobs. I want to put those skills to use."

The two men looked to Alyx for a response. She knew that this particular agent did not have full disclosure to their more unique abilities and did not yet have the insight she needed to reveal herself fully to him. "Oh, you will," she assured him. "I think you'll be surprised by just how... capable we are."

Jarod smiled at her. "Actually, I'm not surprised by anything anymore."

While tempted, she chose not to take the bait at this time; she was too damn tired to deal with it right now. "Jarod..." she shook her head. "We'll see you in the morning." She walked over to the door and opened it, at this point wanting little more than a hot shower and four hours of sleep. She stepped out onto the porch with him, the night air wrapping her in its cold embrace. She could smell the snow in the air; it would begin within hours and make the next few days interesting to say the least. How it might change the timetable and the plans they had not yet come up with had yet to be seen. She shivered visibly and Jarod being the gentleman that he was, set a hand on her arm, probably to encourage her to go back inside, but his touch, while innocent enough, caused an instantaneous connection that she had felt only once before.

It took but a moment, mere milliseconds, and everything that Jarod was poured out of him and into her. She had already jerked away by that point, but it didn't matter the connection had been made and it didn't cut off when her touch did. Instead he remained in the back of her head, his presence oddly familiar and comforting, which should not have been possible. She did not know this man, had never met him before in her life and yet... yet  _she knew him_. Knew far more than she ever should know about another person. Yes, she sometimes saw into a person, knew things, saw things, learned things; some good, some bad, some enough to save a person from their fate... even if it later catches up with them, but this was so much more.

"Are you all right?"

She blinked back to awareness, "Uh, yeah, just fine, why?"

He set a hand on her shoulder and she managed to not flinch away, but he saw that she wanted to. "No, you're not." He tipped his head to the side. "You are far more than you appear, aren't you?"

She understood that somehow he had gained knowledge of her, could feel that he understood... everything, but not why or how. "I could say the same about you."

He smiled. "Touché."

"Alyx, come inside, you're gonna freeze your ass off," Darien said as he stepped through the still open door, warming her back with his comforting presence. She could feel the possessiveness coming off him, but ignored it for now. "Agent Miner, is there something else you need?"

"Just answers that none of us have yet," Jarod replied, hand falling away from her shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning." And on those words he turned and walked away, heading for his own cabin at the resort.

Alyx shuddered, his presence not fading from her mind, as it should once the contact had ended. What the hell was going on now? She did not need yet another unwanted connection in her mind. She had enough trouble filtering out all Darien was, she most certainly did not need yet another persona buried in her psyche. Hers still remained fragile even months after cracking into pieces and being poorly glued back together. And now... now she had Jarod in her brain. Dozens of him, all the same and yet all different. Unless she'd gone completely over the deep end, he'd spent a lifetime being anyone except himself and that made no sense whatsoever. She closed her eyes, a hand coming up to rub her face, trying to push the images, the memories back behind a wall for the time being, not having the time or inclination to sort through them right now. No, right now she wanted to curl up in Darien's arms and find that peace only he could give her.

"You okay, baby?" Darien asked, wrapping his arms about her and pulling back against him, his nearness pushing Jarod's presence further back.

"Yeah, just got a surprise head full when he touched me, is all."

"Ah. Anything we need to worry about?"

"Nope," she assured him, turning about to look up at him. No, on this occasion the worry would be all her own.

"Would you two get in here and shut the door, my ankles are cold," Bobby groused from inside, causing Darien to chuckle softly.

"Yes, Hobbesy, we'll be right in," Darien told their irascible partner. "Shower?"

Alyx turned about and smiled slyly. "Only if you join me."

He sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly, his breath creating a fog about the two of them. "I think that can be arranged."

"Cool." She went up on her toes to kiss him lightly, a promise of more to come and allowed that link between them to open a touch more so that he could feel how much she wanted him. After two weeks, the need was mutual and near-desperate.

"Damn, girl..." He stepped back, pulling her with him.

She didn't argue, more than content to let him take the lead for the next small slice of eternity. Besides, her toes were cold.

 

~^~^~^~

 

Jarod retuned to his cabin in what could best be described as a state of shock. He stood inside by the door for several minutes trying to wrap his head about what he had just experienced mere minutes before. When he had innocently touched Alyx, wanting no more than to assure himself that she was all right, he had been drawn into some odd connection with her, suddenly knowing far more about her than should ever have been possible just with the simple meeting of skin on skin. He  _knew_  her even though he had never met her prior to today, but he could not fathom how.

Convincing his body to move, he headed for the bedroom of his cabin and pulled out the DSA from under the bed and carried it back out to the sitting area where he opened it and then stared at it for a long moment not certain where he should start. As a diversion he reached for his laptop and clicked on the file he had quickly complied on Agent Silver after their initial meeting earlier in the evening. That had been his real motive in going over to their cabin, to reassess the woman once he'd had a chance to read her  _official_  file. The information had been both accurate and total bullshit. She had only existed under her current name for a few years, since coming to work at the Agency in fact. Who she had been prior to that remained a mystery.

The fact that she was most certainly gifted with some sort of psychic or ESP type ability had been completely absent from her file. Not overly surprising, but of great import he believed. It certainly made him wonder what else had been hidden from him. Psychics working for the government had not been unheard of, hell that was at least of half of what The Centre was all about, but he'd never really encountered it before. Jarod reached for the picture of his mom and set it next to the horrible Agency file photo of Alyx. While similar - the red hair being the most obvious similarity - they bore only a vague resemblance to one another, so it was very unlikely that Alyx was related to him in any way. Besides, assuming her official age of twenty-four was even close to accurate, there was little chance his mother had had anything to do with her birth.

However, that certainty did little to dispel the feeling that she was indeed related to him in some manner, as impossible as that might seen. But then again, look at what The Centre had done in the past. With a frown of unhappiness adorning his features, he chose the DSA's relating to the Gemini Project, the one that had most recently resulted in a clone of Jarod, one that was decade and a half younger, but with the same Pretender abilities. While part of him wanted to contact his father to make certain his  _brother_  remained safe, he knew better. One call at the wrong time and The Center would have the boy back in their possession and there was no way he would allow that to happen.

No, better to review the data he had on hand and hope to glean just that one last kernel of information from it than risk lives he'd sworn to protect. He didn't really expect to find much, at least not that connected to Alyx, but he had no idea where else to start. While the few DSAs he had on his younger self played, he dragged over his laptop and dialed out via the wifi connector plugged into the side. He preferred to use wireless connections, as they were more difficult to trace, especially with the encryption program he ran along with it. He'd done a few pretends as a variety of computer geeks and could handle pretty much anything at this point. With a little creativity he made his way through the 'net and into the Agency's servers. Security was beyond tight, but he didn't let it worry him. What he wanted was far more than the basic profile on Alyx Silver he'd been able to look at earlier. Whoever... whatever she was he intended to find out, and also discover how she had come to be in the possession of the unique powers he had unexpectedly experienced.

No one could be that powerful by accident. Even those at The Centre with abilities had been carefully bred or manipulated or both into acquiring their skills, even his brother Ethan's empathic skills had been due to a remarkable combination of his father's and Katherine Parker's genetics. Miss Parker also had the gift and though untrained had found it a useful to gain knowledge when there seemed to be no other way to discover it.

The Agency's computer decided to put up a fight and Jarod's concentration swung to the laptop before him. "A challenge. I haven't had one of those recently." He smiled thinly and focused on the screen before him.

 

~^~^~^~

 

_"Sorry for the early call, Alyx, but I wanted to make you aware of a potential security breach."_

Alyx yawned and rubbed her eyes. She'd actually gotten nearly five hours of sleep, but it had taken medication to do so and that sleep had not been as restful as she'd hoped. That surprise connection to Jarod had not dulled in the least and the man's thoughts and emotions had invaded her dreams, so even without Drake's phone call she had known the supposed ATF agent had spent his time hacking the night away, and that the files in question were hers. Apparently, that connection had been two-way, to a degree, anyway, and made him even more curious about her than he already had been. Fun... not.

"S'okay, Quen, not like I have to be anywhere but here."

_"Someone tried to break into your secure files last night. I was unable to trace it back to the source, but they did not gain anything of value."_  He tried to sound reassuring, but Alyx recognized that tone of underlying worry in his voice.  _"I've made some changes, so they shouldn't be able to get in that particular way again, however that won't prevent them from trying another route."_

"I may know who is trying to access my file," She informed him, thanks to her dreams, certain who had been showing his curiosity overnight. "Crack the door. Let him see into the second layer, but tweak it so it appears to be deeper."

_"Are you certain, Alyx? Even that layer is Classified."_

Alyx sighed softly and rubbed her forehead with one hand. She really wanted coffee, but would perforce have to wait until this call had been dealt with. "I am aware, Drake. I am also aware that most of it is comparatively harmless and scrubbed clean of anything to do with my abilities. Let him in." She had little concern about Jarod learning she was skilled at being other people. Nothing in the modified version of her time as Ariana held anything that she feared sharing with Jarod, though it probably should have. The events of last night, aside from disturbing her slumber, had done nothing to make her concerned, which actually worried her, given she knew Jarod was even less who he said he was than her.

_"Understood. I will inform the Official. Be careful, Alyx,"_  Quentin told her, his concern honest.

Alyx chuckled softly. "As I can be, Quen. I'll check in when I can."

_"Works."_  And with that he disconnected. Alyx shut her phone and set it aside, knowing there was little chance she'd get back to sleep. She got up and shuffled over to her bags to retrieve her laptop. She brought it back to the bed and opened it up. Time to do a little research on one Jarod Miner and his slight case of multiple persona disorder. Fair was fair, after all. He had gone digging into her records, there was no chance she wouldn't return the favor. Besides, maybe filling in the blanks of who he was would help with him being stuck in the back of her head. Damn, that was the very last thing she needed. She still barely handled having Darien stuffed in there, she so did not need someone else, a complete stranger no less, sucking up her needed cranial space. Especially when she had enough trouble keeping her memories separate from all of those she'd stored in her mind and could not forget.

By the time she would need to get ready for the meeting she would have plenty of information, whether or not it would be of any use was something else entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

Darien had slept like a log, especially after the nearly hour-long shower he'd shared with Alyx. Hobbes had grumbled, but understood given she'd been away for two weeks. That would probably be their only chance until they got back home, and that was assuming she wasn't sent out on yet another job the moment they returned as had happened more than often lately. Boss seemed to think the only way to protect her was if she were never in any single place for an extended period of time. Darien just thought it sucked since when she was away, she wasn't with him and he liked her being around.

Besides, when she was around... then he knew she was all right.

Alyx and Jarod were already dueling with their computers, Hobbes stood before the board as if he would glean anything else from the information there. Darien needed coffee; for though there was a machine in their room, there was a decided lack of coffee with which to make it. This did little to help him gain actual consciousness, especially this early in the morning. "Hey," he mumbled to everyone and made a beeline for the coffeemaker someone had thoughtfully brought into the room.

"Hey, bub," Alyx said, eyes peeking over the top of her monitor.

"Fawkes, nice of you to join us," Hobbes snarked, but even through his unconsciousness Darien could tell his partner was joking.

"I'm fifteen minutes late, Hobbes. Did I miss all the fun or something?" Darien failed utterly at keeping it light and earned a raised eyebrow from Agent Miner. "Sorry, need caffeine to be even marginally human."

"Not a problem, Agent Fawkes, though I have yet to understand the fascination with the consumption of coffee you are more than welcome to prepare as much as you wish," Agent Miner told him with a hint of a smile on his lips. Apparently, he found Darien's current state both amusing and unusual.

Darien found the agent's turn of phrase odd, but turned his focus to the coffeemaker in hopes of getting it to produce that magical liquid that he required to function. The prepackaged grounds were a decent brand, even by Alyx's high standards, and he followed the simple instructions to set everything up. When he hit the start button, nothing happened. He scrubbed his face with his hands, and tried again with the same lack of results.

"It's unplugged," Alyx told him and he grunted in response when he realized she was correct.

He reached around for the cord and slid it into the designated spot in the wall. The clock on the front began to blink indicating success and he then pressed the power button. There was sudden  _snap_  and surge of power up his arm. Even being zapped by Alyx a time a two failed to prepare him for a piece of electronics deciding to attack him. "Son of a bitch," he snarled as he jumped back, sparks chasing him.

Alyx was at his side instantly, the machine going dark as she forced it to behave. "Darien?"

"I'm fine... I think." His hand tingled, like when the blood flow returned after sleeping on it wrong. He shook it a couple of times and flexed the fingers, but otherwise he appeared to be undamaged.

A resort employee stuck his head into the room, attracted by Darien's shout. "Is everything all right?"

Hobbes answered, "Coffee machine has a short and it got him." He waved at Darien.

The man's eyes went wide and he went right into obsequious mode. "My apologies, I'll have it removed and arrange for coffee and pastries to be delivered free of charge." He faced Darien directly. "Do you need medical assistance, we do have a PA on staff."

Darien shook his head. "Nah, just not my preferred way of being woken up is all."

The man nodded. "If you change your mind, let us know. He walked over to the offending machine and removed it with due caution. "I'll have the food sent in right away."

"Thanks," Hobbes said with a nod. Once gone he eyed Darien. "He okay, kid?"

"As far as I can tell, yes." She took Darien's right hand into hers and gave it a more serious once over. He could feel her power wash over him, while her fingers trailed lightly across his skin. "A small first degree burn on his fingertip, but that's it."

"Fawkes?"

"Had the tingles at first, but feels fine now," Darien assured them. "Once the coffee arrives I will be right as rain." He glanced over at Jarod who hadn't said a word the entire time, but had watched them all with wary eyes, as if trying to absorb the interplay between the three of them. Understandable, given he'd been essentially side-swiped by the arrival of an extra agent. Hard enough working with total strangers, planned or not, but adding a surprise addition, and worse those used to working together a certain way, could easily throw plans, never mind expectations off.

"I have Jolt if you would rather not risk another attack," Jarod offered, surprising Darien with the humor.

He chuckled. "I'll manage till the coffee arrives. Now, how are we going to stop these Navshots from falling into the wrong hands?"

"Good question," Hobbes stated, turning about to face Jarod. "Why has Hurst agreed to move the guns for Goodrowe?"

"Blackmail," Alyx answered as she moved back towards her computer.

"Well, I figured that. Hurst ain't never crossed the line before, why now?" Hobbes moved back to the white board covered in pictures and seemingly random info.

"Really good blackmail?" Darien suggested, humor and seriousness in his tone. Everyone has a price: sometimes it's money and sometimes it's something even more valuable like threats against those you love. "Hurst has a family, right?"

Jarod nodded.

"And Goodrowe isn't exactly a local, he works the whole country, so while he has some contacts and resources here, he's based out of…"

"Phoenix," Hobbes filled in. "Good point, Fawkes. Hurst has been nothing but legit his entire career, can't even find so much as a speeding ticket on him and his rep is excellent according to sources I spoke to." He turned to Jarod. "Where's Goodrowe holed up? Hurst's warehouse?"

"I have not discovered where he is… holed up," Jarod told them.

Alyx tipped her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "But you know where he is."

Jarod did the one eyebrow thing, which Darien found amusing. "No, I don't  _know_."

Alyx scrunched up her face. "Fine, Mr. Picky, you suspect then."

Darien gazed over all the data, ran everything they knew or suspected through his mind and came to only one conclusion. "He's using Hurst's place, isn't he?" Then it really clicked. "Shit, he has his family doesn't he?"

"Ah, the nastiest kind of blackmail there is," Hobbes muttered. "Kids?"

Jarod nodded. "Two. A girl and a boy, both under the age of ten."

"So, Goodrowe has three hostages to make certain the guns they want get delivered," Hobbes summed up. "Do we know where they are being held?"

Jarod stood, went to the board and removed a photograph. "Hurst has a fair-sized estate, been in the family for years now, and includes a very sophisticated security system."

"How did Goodrowe get in then?" Darien questioned aloud as he worked it through on his own. "An inside job, of course, but the question is how long has he been planning this. Government shipments aren't exactly common knowledge, even within the government."

"I suspect this has been in the works for six months or so, which does indeed mean Goodrowe had inside info on the weapons, and long before Hurst probably knew he had won the contract." Jarod had definitely done his homework, might even be planning on going after those on the inside all down the line, but not now. Now was all about the Hurst's and Darien had to given Jarod chops for that. Helping the little guy first wasn't always part of the government agenda, hell it almost never was.

"Deal with this first then track down who's feeding him intel and take him out as well." Hobbes contained the anger well, but Darien knew his friend, traitors were on the top of his shit list. He still bitched about Eberts when given a chance.

"Which do we target first, the warehouse or the estate?" Darien asked, knowing they would have to do both to find the details they needed to resolve this successfully.

Alyx answered, "Both."

Hobbes sighed and nodded. "How we gonna split up?'

"Thanks to the addition to Agent Silver we can actually cover both at the same time. If the two of you are willing to stake out the storage warehouse, we will discover how tight the security is at the Hurst estate and try to ascertain the location of his family," Jarod suggested.

Hobbes nodded. "Works."

Darien didn't like that quite so much, especially after the... compromising position he had caught them in the previous evening. "I'm not so sure about that..."

"D, it's the best division of labor." She tipped her head to the side.  _*I'll be able to find the family if they are on the estate.*_

Darien sighed, knowing she was correct, but not wanting his girl to be alone with Jarod for any length of time.  _*I know, sweets, and protecting his family comes first.*_  He rubbed the back of his head hating that they would have to split up a day after getting back together. Though he should be used to it by now, he supposed. They always seemed to be going their separate ways, and she always seemed to be heading into the arms of another man. He forced those thoughts away at the slight furrowing he could see of Alyx's brow, which meant she had picked up the gist of his thoughts at the very least, if so she kept it to herself this time. "Yeah, me'n Hobbesy'll deal with the warehouse. See if we can learn how they're gonna transport the guns... and when."

Hobbes nodded in agreement. "Meet back here later and compare notes." That was an order, not a request or suggestion.

Jarod glanced at the watch on his wrist. "The Hurst estate is a hour from here and deeper into the mountains, communication may be limited."

Alyx chuckled softly. "Not to worry, one of my specialties is communication."

Darien smiled and shook his head in amusement. Even if there were no signal, she'd find someway to boost the cell phone or walkies or if worst came to worst talk to him via her telepathy. Her true range was unknown, but thanks to the permanent connection between them it remained entirely possible that she could contact him from half a world away. "And if something goes wrong?" Always a possibility, especially for them.

"Smoke signals?" Alyx suggested facetiously. "Figure if no contact for six hours we head to the other team's locale ready for rescue."

Hobbes nodded. "Good plan, kid. Let's try to avoid that though."

Jarod snorted in laughter. "Do you always plan for the worst case scenario?"

"Have to," Alyx answered, "these two are trouble magnets." She waved at Bobby and Darien, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "All right, we've got a full day, let's coordinate and get to it."

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

"I've got a hit on Jarod... maybe."

Miss Parker narrowed her eyes and tapped a single fingernail on the battered desktop. "Maybe? Why is it only a maybe?"

Broots nervously called up the data he'd gathered since his arrival early that morning. "I had a data mining program set up that alerts me if anyone does a search for any of Jarod's aliases. Last night someone went looking for him, with an image, and discovered dozens of his alternate identities that he's lived under over the past several years."

Miss Parker closed her eyes for a long moment. "You're telling me someone has figured out that Jarod not only isn't who he claims to be, but that he's been..."

"Pretended to be," Sydney interjected.

Miss Parker tipped her head to concede the point. "How many, Broots?"

"No way to know for certain," he answered, wishing he had better news for her.

"Were they able to trace him back to The Centre?" Sydney questioned, his cool, calm voice seemingly unconcerned at the possibility.

Broots shook his head. "No, all the data came from the original sources of those pretends. NSA, ATF, various hospitals... nothing that is connected to here."

"That is good to know," Sydney stated. "Do we know from whom the search originated?"

Broots pressed a few keys on the keyboard before him. "No. Whoever did the trace is good."

"And I thought you were the best," Miss Parker sneered.

Broots found his backbone for a moment. "The best here, yes. Whoever did this... is far more skilled than I am. The trail they left behind... I know it originated in Montana, western half of the state… I think, but that's all I have. I can't even give you an ISP or exact location where the trace began."

"But it's a start." Miss Parker said with a nod.

"Why do you think this means Jarod is in Montana?" Sydney asked, playing the role of devil's advocate this time around.

"Because why would someone look up information on Jarod if he wasn't there?" Miss Parker came back with quickly and it was the same conclusion Broots had come to. "Keep trying to discover who is looking into our wayward pretender."

Broots nodded. "Of course. If they try again, the trace will begin automatically and I'll let you know as soon as I have anything."

"Good enough," Miss Parker said with a nod, then turned and left the room leaving him with Sydney.

"Why would Jarod be in Montana?"

Broots shrugged. "The search started with his ATF persona Jarod Miner, perhaps he's dealing with some Waco-type cult... though why they'd hole up that far north is beyond me."

"I'm sure he'll let us know when he's ready and not before," Sydney stated, not sounding overly confident this time. "Keep me informed."

"Of course," Broots agreed, diving back into the computer and all the other work he had on his plate.

 

~^~^~^~^~

 

Jarod finished putting the surveillance items in the bag when he realized he was no longer alone in the room. "Hobbes and Fawkes head out already?"

"Yep," Alyx answered.

Jarod turned about to see her standing there with a handgun pointed ever so casually in his direction. It wasn't overtly threatening, but there was a seriousness about her that he knew boded ill for him. "Is there a problem?"

"So, did you get what you wanted from my photo?" she asked, stepping further into the room and waving for him to sit with the gun.

"Caught that did you?" he asked as he settled into the nearest chair, eyes never leaving hers, and wondering exactly how much trouble he was now in.

"There isn't much I don't catch. Not these days," she stated; her voice and look equally chilly. "So what, really, is your name and what are you doing here?" She was very casual, walked over to the other overstuffed chair and plopped herself down in it, the weapon never wavering.

"I told you, Jarod Miner." He could see she wasn't buying it for an instant, which meant she'd done her own digging.

"Give me some credit, I found at least a dozen different personas of yours buried in various places. ATF, FBI, Air Force, Army. Is there anything you haven't been?" Alyx stood up, walked over to him, reached over and removed his gun from his shoulder holster. Carrying it back to her chosen perch, she efficiently removed and checked the clip, then replaced it and chambered a round. "Be glad I found out and not Bobby. You would have been in cuffs in under thirty seconds.  _I'll_  give you a chance to explain."

Jarod tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. "I could ask you the same question. Seems you didn't exist until a few years ago."

She cocked her head to the side. "And, near as I can tell you don't exist at all except for your various personas. So who are you really, Jarod?"

He had no way to answer that question, as he still had no clue himself. Even after all these years, he had only hints as to who he truly was and while he may have reconnected with his father, his mother still remained out of his reach, the secrets she held still making their reunion far too dangerous. He feared he might never get the opportunity to know her. "I don't know how to answer that."

"Okay, let's try: why are you here?"

"I've already told you, rescue the Hursts, stop Goodrowe." The truth and nothing but.

She nodded slowly. "That's the truth, anyway. Now why did you try to break into the Agency database and my files?"

He waved at his bag on the coffee table between them. "May I?"

She nodded.

Going through his bag, he pulled out one of the photos of his mother and handed it to her. "This is why I was checking up on you."

She examined the picture for a moment, but there was no flash of recognition on her features. "Who is she?" Alyx asked.

"My mother," Jarod answered, taking the photo back from her.

"And? Aside from the red hair I doubt we have anything in common." Alyx clearly wasn't impressed so far. "You're not lying, but you most certainly are not telling the whole truth." She set his gun on her lap, the lack of trust visible in her entire demeanor.

"Why do I feel you... in my head?" At that her eyes widened, her carefully schooled responses cracking at his commentary.

"That is a good damn question," she muttered. "A better one would be why do I know you..."

"... even though we've never met before," Jarod finished. He gestured with the photo. "I suspect we may be related, I'm just not entirely certain how."

She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. "Given the way my life has gone the last few years I won't even suggest that it should be impossible."

"You feel it as well," he stated, wanting to ask her so many questions, but not certain this was the time or the place to do so.

She chuckled ruefully. "You have no idea. What do you need from me to answer your questions?"

"Your real name would be a good start."

She nodded, apparently not a threatened about sharing that tidbit of info. "One condition."

"Anything," he agreed without hesitation.

"You use secure channels. I have... family I will protect at any cost."

"Done." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, flipped it open, and hit the speed dial for one of the few people he trusted. He put the call on the speaker so Alyx could hear what was being said at both ends and when it was answered he said, "Hello, Sydney."

" _Jarod. How are you_?" Sydney sounded pleased to hear from his wayward charge.

"I'm sending you a picture I need you to look at," Jarod explained, leaning back into the chair he was sitting on. Talking to Sydney was always dangerous. He trusted the man, but he also knew Sydney was trying just as hard to bring him back to The Centre as Miss Parker. He held up the phone and took a picture of Alyx and sent it on to his friend.

" _Give me a moment, Jarod_." Sydney was silent for long minutes; only the faint sound of keys being tapped could be heard across the intervening distance. " _Jarod, who is this girl_?"

"Now  _that_  is the real question, and what I need you to find out."

 _"Do you have a name to go with the face?"_  Sydney requested, sounding as curious as Jarod.

"I do." He looked to Alyx, who handed over a slip of paper, understanding that while Jarod wanted her to be able to hear, Sydney probably should not know she was listening in. "Michele Alexandra McTierney." He spelled the last so there would be no confusion.

" _I'll get to work on this right away._ " Sydney was silent for a moment, clearly contemplating the potential pitfalls of this course of action. " _Are you sure this is something you want to look into? You may not like what I discover._ "

"Could you  _not_  try to find out?" Jarod asked his friend.

" _No. I would have to know. Just as you do,_ " Sydney answered honestly. " _I'll do what I can._ "

"Thanks, Sydney." He pressed the end button and met Alyx's eyes, her look concerned.

"You don't fully trust him," she stated.

Jarod shook his head. "I don't fully trust anyone," he admitted.

"What did they do to you, Jarod?" she asked, voice hushed and serious.

"They took away who I was," he told her, just as serious, "and I'm still trying to find myself."

Alyx snorted, though with a decided lack of humor in her demeanor. "You and me both."

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

Broots walked into the room where Sydney sat with Angelo who was holding a copy of Alyx's photo.

"Did you find anything, Broots?" Sydney asked the obviously nervous man.

"Maybe. But only if she is far older than she appears."

"Yes," Angelo muttered softly. "Not a girl."

Sydney chuckled softly. "Well, that would appear to answer that question." He turned about to look at Broots directly. "What did you find?"

"I believe I found a connection between The Centre and her parents."

"Whose parents?" Miss Parker asked as she entered the room with her usual frightening aplomb.

Broots looked to Sydney to respond.

She stalked towards the older man, the smile gracing her lips nearly as dangerous as she actually was.

"A young woman," Sydney answered with a shrug. "Jarod requested that we look into her past."

"You heard from Jarod? And you failed to inform me why?" her voice had lowered the threat obvious in her tone alone.

"I'm informing you now," Sydney told her, calm as always. "We were able to do no more than confirm that he is indeed in Montana, his exact location remains unknown."

"Or what he's doing," Broots added quickly, almost stumbling over the words.

"Yet, he's managed to find a date?" she snarked.

"So it would appear," Sydney agreed with some amusement. "He thinks she is important for some reason."

Miss Parker walked over to Angelo and removed the picture from his grasp. She studied it for a moment, before turning to Sydney. "Since when is Jarod into jailbait?" She held out the photo for Angelo to take from her, which he did, returning to his study of her.

"Since now I suppose," Sydney responded, not rising to the obvious bait. Yes, part of his job, his duty was to return Jarod to The Centre, but at the same time he only wished to protect him, to allow him to choose for himself and live his life the way he wanted.

"So who is she?"

Broots' eyes flicked to Sydney who nodded slightly. "Michele McTierney, born in 1965, two minutes before her twin brother Michael. Her parents are listed as patients at... NuGenesis."

Miss Parker's eyes went wide. "NuGenesis, where the Prodigy project was run?"

"So it would appear," Sydney responded. "This is the first I am hearing this information myself."

She nodded. While it did not happen often, there were occasions when Miss Parker could practice restraint and patience.

"Apparently, it was not the only project being run there," Broots told them as he continued to review the information he had discovered.

"What project?" Sydney asked, not wanting to know the answer, but needing to.

"Oracle."

One of Miss Parker's eyebrows rose on her forehead. "And what, pray tell, is Oracle?"

Broots shook his head. "I don't know. There's no details here, just a project name, but if this data is correct both Michele and Michael were part of the project along with dozens of others."

"Can you find the details?" Miss Parker requested under the guise of an order.

Broots nodded. "Probably. Will need to dig into some old databases, but I should be able to find out the details, it'll just take some time."

"You have twenty-fours hours, how about that?" she offered magnanimously. She turned to Sydney. "As soon as you know anything, I know it, understand?"

"Of course, Miss Parker," Sydney agreed even though he knew she would use said information to try and bring Jarod back into The Centre. She clicked away, her point being made with every step.

"Broots, who oversaw the Oracle program?"

Broots tapped a few keys, a frown overtaking his features. "Mr. Raines."

"Of course," Sydney grouched, "which means it can't be anything good."

"Does that mean this Michele can't be good?" Broots asked warily.

"That remains to be seen, I suppose," Sydney told him, heading back to where Angelo sat on the floor with her picture still in his hands.

Angelo look up, eyes bright. "Good, very good, and will show Jarod the way out."

 

**Montana, Northern Rockies**

**Hurst Warehouse**

**Near the Canadian border**

 

Hobbes sat in the driver's seat watching the warehouse where the Navshots were being stored for transport sometime in the near future. Lowering the binoculars he'd been using, he looked at his partner sitting beside him. Once again, Fawkes was rubbing his right hand as if it were cold or something. Justifiable here, but he'd been doing it ever since the coffee machine had bit him that morning.

"Fawkes, why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" Darien muttered, sounding distracted, he'd been staring out the windshield, checking the place out with those thiefy eyes of his.

"Rubbing and shaking your hand like that. You been doing it since we hit the road," Bobby explained, keeping his voice indifferent so as not to make his concern obvious.

"Huh?" Darien looked down at his hand as if surprised to find he was doing exactly that. "Uh, it still feels weird, is all. No big deal."

"No big deal, my ass," Bobby grumbled, holding out his hand for Darien's. "Cough it up."

With a sigh, Darien submitted to Bobby checking his monitor, which still read full green. "I told you. I'm fine."

Bobby released Darien's hand with a slight frown on his face. "Maybe we should call the Keep... or the kid. Just to be sure."

"Hobbes, give it a rest. What? You think we can't do the job without Alyx holding our hands?" Darien snapped, sounding for all the world like Hobbes after a couple of days without his meds. "I don't think so, pal." He blinked, as if shocked by his own tone of voice and shook his head. "If it's that important I'll tell my babysitter as soon as we get back, 'kay?"

Hobbes shrugged, not too certain he wanted a twitchy Fawkes going anywhere, but not having much choice. Maybe it was nothing more than the new surroundings and lack of sleep; Fawkes had tossed and turned for a fair portion of the night even after the kid had done her best to tire him out. "I'd rather we have the kid look you over and it be nothing, than for you to have an unexpected meltdown, my friend," Hobbes observed, looking back at the warehouse, and allowing the matter to be closed for the time being. "You ready to check this place out?"

Darien glanced at his watch. "A little longer. If I'm right there should be a mass exodus soon, when most of them leave for lunch. Might as well make it as easy as possible. Plus, it will give you time to wire me up."

"All right, smartass." Bobby turned in his seat and reached back for the case containing the communications gear. "Let's see what toys we have this time." At least things had improved in the last year or so. The budget had gone up and the Official had invested quite a bit of it in fancy gear. The headsets in this case were the really spiffy ones. Small, with self-contained power, so there were no bulky battery packs, and good range. While it still didn't compare with the gear the FBI or CIA got to play with, it was a vast improvement over the crap they'd had to use in the past. Pulling out one of the headsets, he handed it to Darien. "Think you can handle this?"

Darien rolled his eyes. "I'll manage, Hobbes." He slid the earpiece on and adjusted it until it sat just so.

Bobby turned on the transmitter and tested the system. Darien flinched at the high-pitched squeal that even Bobby could hear, but the problem quickly resolved itself. "Sorry about that. How's the level now?"

Fawkes nodded. "Fine." He rubbed his hands, in anticipation this time, and not that unconscious thing he'd been doing all day. Minutes later they watched nearly a dozen cars pull out of the warehouse lot, just as Fawkes had predicted. Opening the SUV door he stepped out into the chilly late fall air that the forecasters swore would be producing snow at any moment. He made his way around to the back of the building at a low crouch, heading for the section of loosened fence they'd spotted earlier. Since they had no idea how long he'd have to be inside they agreed it would be best to save the Quicksilver until was needed. They only had a limited amount of counteragent with them, and no ready way to get more.

" _I'm in, Hobbes,_ " Darien said quietly.

"Don't dawdle. Get the info and get out." Hobbes was watching the main gate for the return of the employees, when he saw a suspicious black car pull up. The driver got out and every instinct in Bobby's soul told him this was big trouble. So, he was not really surprised when the driver opened the rear door and Goodrowe, accompanied by Hurst at gunpoint, got out of the car.

"Shit. Fawkes you got company. Heavily armed company." Bobby slid out of the SUV in hopes of getting a better view. He was prepared to go in if necessary, to back up his partner.

" _Goody_ ," Fawkes muttered. " _Uh, Hobbes..._ "

"Yeah, Fawkes?" The tone in Fawkes' voice suggested that he had bad news.

" _The room I'm in..._ " Fawkes paused, the sound of him swallowing hard coming across loud and clear.

"Spit it out," Hobbes barked.

" _It's full of Navshots_ ," Fawkes finally got out. Then, a second later there was a hissed, " _Oh, crap,_ " followed by new voices.

" _Check them,_ " Goodrowe ordered.

" _I told you they were here_ ," Hurst said, the tremor in his voice audible even to Hobbes who had never met the man.

" _So you did. Now you just need to write up the necessary paperwork and we can get out of here._ " Goodrowe sneered. " _Impressive weapon._ "

" _So you keep telling me. Can we get this over with?_ " Hurst sounded tired and angry.

" _Yes, let's_." From the sound of it, Goodrowe wasn't going to be keeping Hurst around any longer than necessary.

" _The driver will need his passport as well as these to get across,_ " Hurst reminded Goodrowe.

" _I know. Don't worry. My end is handled. You just make sure those papers of yours will past muster or I'll have to start with that sweet little girl of yours._ " Bobby could picture the leer on Goodrowe's face. The fact the bastard liked his playmates young only gave Bobby another reason to see that this guy was arrested... and soon. " _And I promise you I'll enjoy her before she dies._ "

 

 

Darien shook off the Quicksilver and climbed into the SUV feeling nauseous. He had remained in his hiding place through the rest of the conversation, if you could call it that. Goodrowe had gone into descriptive detail about what he planned to do to the girl and then added what he'd do to the little boy just for funsies. Darien had somehow managed to not kill the bastard and endured until he had the details about when and where for the shipment... weather permitting. As soon as he had that information, he'd left. Not really needing to hear what Goodrowe planned on doing to Hurst's wife while he was made to watch.

"I heard. We'll head back to the resort and contact Alyx and Jarod and give them the info." Bobby started the engine. "You okay, partner?"

Darien shook off his discomfort. "Yeah, fine."

"How are you doing on the Quicksilver? You were in there a while," Bobby asked, attempting to make the question sound casual.

Realizing his partner had a point; he turned over his hand and checked the tattoo under his watch. There was only one segment red. He blinked, rubbed his thumb across it and looked again, but nothing had changed. That didn't make sense. He'd been invisible about twenty minutes. Yeah, the Keep had started him on the inhibitor that targeted the toxin only, but the change shouldn't have been that dramatic. Should it?

"Well, Fawkes?" Bobby's concern seeped into his voice.

"Fine. See." Darien held up his wrist to show his partner.

"Guess those new adjustments are working. They were trying to get you more see-through time," Bobby said, pulling the SUV back onto the main road through town.

"I guess," Darien muttered, looking out the window. He had his doubts. Who knew what changes had really been made, if any. Hell, the Keep could very well be giving him sugar water instead of inhibitor, shortening his leash on orders of the Fatman. With a heavy sigh, he pushed those thoughts away. Things were fine, better than fine - twenty minutes and only one segment red, it didn't get any better than that. Even if his hand still felt like it was stuck in a light socket. Surreptitiously, he began to rub his left thumb along the palm again, in a vain hope to get some normal feeling back in it.

"We'll probably need to keep an eye on Goodrowe just in case. The forecast ain't pretty," Hobbes said even as the deep grey sky finally began to give up its contents as freezing rain hit the windshield with soft ticks. He flipped on the wipers and headed back towards the resort.

"Maybe stop for lunch?" Darien suggested; hungry and though he knew the resort had a restaurant, wanted some supplies for their cabin in case they would be stuck indoors all night.

"Yeah, good idea," Hobbes agreed without argument. "Wish we could've planted a tracker on Goodrowe, so we'd have a better idea when they're gonna make their move."

"Well, I did leave my headset in a crate of Navshots, battery won't last forever, but might give us some warning," Darien told him, feeling just a touch smug, justifiably even he had to admit.

"Fawkes..." Hobbes shook his head. "You are a smartass supreme. Looks like I've trained you well."

Darien snorted. "Taught me everything I know," he agreed. He stuck out a hand. "Grocery store at two o'clock."

Hobbes flipped on the blinker and changed lanes. "On it."

 

~^~

 

"So how did you end up working for the Agency?" Jarod asked her as they lay on the ground, looking down the valley at the estate they were going to break into tomorrow.

"Blackmail," Alyx answered, as she checked the area.

The specs Jarod had provided showed the place was wired for just about everything, but the electronic security didn't extend out very far from the building itself. It was just too heavily forested, instead it was patrolled by the old standby: humans and dogs, both of which were potentially fallible, if manipulated correctly. And Jarod excelled at manipulation, it had become his stock and trade as of late.

Jarod lowered the binoculars, which he'd been using to check the buildings. "Blackmail? You or them?" He wouldn't actually be surprised by either.

She dropped her head down, laughing softly, and after a moment, she turned to look at him. "They blackmailed me." She shook her head still chuckling a little. "Things have changed a bit since then. Though the reasons I stay are in some ways the same, it's no longer blackmail."

"Then what is it?" Jarod wasn't surprised she was willing to talk. They'd discussed quite a few subjects on the drive over, after this morning it had been unavoidable.

"Necessity." Her attention remained focused the house. "I need to get closer."

Jarod watched her, wondering what holes she had been able to discern that he'd missed. "Sure. Follow me."

He got to his feet and together they made his way down the hillside towards the compound. Alyx followed so quietly that he had to look back several times to make sure she was still there. When they were within about a hundred yards of the perimeter defenses Alyx called out to him. "Close enough."

Squatting down next to a tree, she did  _something_ , her eyes becoming unfocused and glazing over, and yet he was absolutely certain that she was completely  _aware_ , and in a way he couldn't yet comprehend. It hadn't taken long for him to realize there was far,  _far_  more to her than just the skills of a well-trained agent. He simply hadn't quite figured out what that more was, and she was not yet ready to reveal it to him, which surprised him. If it were him, he would least faked up some equipment to cover whatever she was attempting with her psychic abilities.

Jarod moved beside her and set a hand gently on her arm, not wanting to disturb her concentration. He made absolutely certain to not touch her bare skin, not that there was much available to touch, she was bundled up, including a hat that barely contained her unruly curls. "What do you see?"

"The security is tight, but has some flaws I can easily exploit." She closed her eyes and tilted her head, as if trying to hear something just out of range. "Where are you my pretties?" she muttered.

When she smiled, Jarod knew she had found what she was looking for; he just wasn't sure what it was, or how she was doing it. "What did you find?" he asked, not sure what he expected for an answer.

She tipped her head to the side, eyes still closed. "The Hursts, the family anyway. Husband isn't here right now... and they haven't seen him in days." She blinked coming back to the here and now. "They're being kept in the master suite, two guards outside the door."

"What about the regular security?"

"Good, better than I expected, especially out here in the middle of nowhere." She turned to face him. "Who is he afraid of?"

"No one, as far as I know."

Alyx quirked an eyebrow in response, clearly not believing his answer.

"He sells weapons, who should he be afraid of?" Jarod pointed out. "Doubt he doesn't know how to use them." In fact, Hurst did demos of every single weapon he sold, especially those he modified. Most of his business involved smaller contracts, local police and security firms. This government contract of his had involved luck and an old friend in a high place that knew and trusted him. Then again, it might have just been convenience... on the part of said old friend, as he could quite possibly be that inside man they'd theorized and actually working for Goodrowe. That would explain why such a small contractor, who lived nowhere near a major military base had won the contract to distribute the Navshots. Jarod would most certainly need to look into that after... after the Hursts were safe.

"Aside from Goodrowe?" Alyx suggested with a hint of humor. "Does he do gunsmithing at home, or just at his warehouse?"

"Point taken," he commented, conceding the point. "Yes, but it's separate from the main house. In fact, it can't even be seen from here."

"Good, means the only weapons will be those in the house." She shifted to lean back against a tree. "I want to try something, keep watch, please?"

"Of course." She closed her eyes, body relaxing noticeably as she did... something. He felt what he could only describe as energy wash across him for an instant and he knew it came from her, then it was gone. He had no idea what she was doing, or how precisely, but suspected it involved her still theoretical extra sensory abilities. Obviously, she did not feel concerned using them in front of him even if she did not yet feel comfortable enough to tell him about them. Of course, all of this could just be in his mind, putting the pieces together wrong and coming to a conclusion that was in no way true.

A fair five minutes had gone by when she came back to herself suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she grabbed Jarod around the waist, yanking him bodily behind the tree she'd been using as a support, but not soon enough. The sound of the gunshot and his grunt of pain occurred at nearly the same time. Through the haze of pain he again felt something, like a shockwave, almost, pass by, but somehow knew he wasn't the intended target, then just as suddenly she was back, her full attention on him.

"He's on his way for us. How bad are you hurt?"

"Not bad. Got my arm," Jarod assured her, grimacing a bit at the pain, as she gave his biceps a quick exam. Actually, it hurt like hell, but he didn't have time to deal with the pain now. So, he ignored it, blocked it out until it was little more than a faint echo. He would pay dearly for it later, but right now, his life might depend on being able to function normally.

"It's not bad, but the bullet is still in there, and I don't have time to get it out now." Alyx informed him, clearly agitated. Whoever had shot him must be nearby and searching for them. "Don't move," she whispered to him.

Then she set a hand on his chest, an icy cold hand and he glanced down to see a strange silver liquid spreading out from under her palm and across his torso. He visibly flinched and tried to shift away, but his right arm just wouldn't support him and he flopped onto his back on the leaf-carpeted forest floor. That wasn't what held him in place, nor was it the gentle pressure of her hand over his racing heart. No, it was the feather brush of that  _something_  and the words, * _I'll explain later.*_  that held him immobile.

Seconds later he was covered in the chill substance; his vision altered, faded, until the brilliant fall colors turned dull and gray, with crazy light streaks shooting out in random directions. And then she vanished. He could still feel her hand on his chest, but he couldn't see her, just an odd electric blue outline that he could only presume was her.

However, he could see the man who had most likely shot him. He was approaching warily from their right, coming down the hill from the direction of where they had parked the jeep, each step a cautious one, as if expecting to be ambushed at any moment. Which is why it was so surprising when a ghost outlined by a nimbus of vivid blue appeared to deliver three swift punches that put the security man down for the count. His clothes were unceremoniously rifled through and every weapon removed to float in the air.

Jarod shook his head in utter disbelief and his sight returned; the whatever-it-was shattering, and falling away from him like glitter. He picked up some of the dust that had landed atop a leaf and examined it. He levered himself to his feet, using a nearby tree for support, noting the guns drifting in his direction, being held in the air by nothing. "Alyx?"

"Thought I told you to stay put?" The Quicksilver flaked away from her and she proceeded to disassemble the rifle in her hands.

"You were invisible," he stated, trying to wrap his mind around what he had just seen... or not seen as the case may be.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Really, are you sure about that? Might just have been a hallucination brought on by shock and trauma."

It was an out Jarod didn't want to take. "Quite sure. We have some things to discuss."

She shrugged. "Later. Right now, we need to move. He got a message out and more are coming. You up to it?"

"Yeah, I'll manage." Jarod started back up the hillside taking a slightly more roundabout route than the one down. Given at least one of the security team had discovered their ride on the ancient road they had used that ran through the woods on the Hurst estate, they approached cautiously, staying as low as possible.

"Crap," Alyx muttered softly, setting a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. "There's two more at the Jeep."

Crap indeed. They hunkered down, shifting slowly and cautiously through the brush lining the side of the road until they could see their ride and the two heavily armed men going through it, one on his walkie-talkie the entire time passing along all they knew to whomever was at the other end. Fair bet these were Goodrowe's men and not Hurst's. "We have two choices, try to make our way back without the Jeep, or..."

"Take them out," Alyx finished. "They have dogs, and even untrained they can probably follow us given you've been shot, plus our gear is in the vehicle."

"They'll know who we are and that the feds are now involved," Jarod stated, knowing this was not the best turn of events. "We need to warn your partners."

Alyx nodded. "That too." She tipped her head up, a look of dismay on her face as the skies opened up and not in the expected way. It wasn't snow, but ice, needles of frozen rain falling viciously from above. Within seconds, they were soaked through. "Shit. We are now out of options."

Jarod went to work on coming up with a course of action, with how fast his mind worked it took mere milliseconds, but even that was too slow for the action Alyx put into motion without hesitation. She was up and moving before he had a chance to say a word. She crossed the distance between them and the security men before they even realized she was there. She was fast, faster than a human should be, and with her seemingly impossible abilities, they stood no chance whatsoever. The walkies erupted into sparks, the guns flew out of her hands and both men froze, unable to move an inch, standing straight and tall and quaking in fear. She wasn't subtle, necessity dictating her actions. She cold cocked both of them, using one of their handguns to do so, then moved them aside, leaving them unmoving on the side of the road, the icy rain falling onto their bare skin.

Jarod stood and made his way over to her, already fighting the shivers, the tips of his hair drooping with the weight of ice that coated the strands. Her hat suddenly didn't seem quite so silly. "They dead?"

She shook her head. "Just napping. They'll be found soon enough. Speaking of which, we need to get out of here."

Jarod nodded in agreement and allowed her to help him into the passenger seat. She would have to drive for the time being, his right arm would be out of commission until they had a chance to field dress it. He buckled himself in even as she started the Jeep and hit the accelerator. Instead of back down the mountain she headed up, following the road deeper into the forest. "Alyx?" he questioned, wanting to understand her decision.

"Can't risk leading them back to the resort and Darien and Bobby. If we get stuck they need to remain free to save the Hursts."

Jarod nodded, agreeing with her logic. "Need to warn them." The world spun about him, much to his dismay and he shook his head in a vain effort to clear it.

Alyx slammed on the brakes, tires sliding on the slick surface the road had become.

"What are you doing? They won't be that far behind us."

"I need to field dress your arm before you bleed out."

With a nod, he unbuckled and gingerly peeled off his jacket, the leather slick with the melting ice, but otherwise undamaged except for the hole; the shirt and sweater beneath having soaked up the majority of the blood. With a groan and her help, he shifted about in the seat so that she could see the damage done.

Alyx eased his arm out of the sleeve of the sweater and moved the shirtsleeve out of the way until she was able to take a good look at the damage. "It's not a through and through, thankfully. I've seen worse, but we need to stop the bleeding."

Jarod winced at her probing, but agreed with her, the wound was still bleeding freely, and now that he was not in immediate danger, it was beginning to  _hurt_. "Do what you can. We'll deal with it when we're out of here."

She gave a curt nod. "This is cold, but effective." She held up her right hand, the fingertips were missing, but it was obviously not an injury. She placed the invisible digits over the wound. At first he felt nothing but a flare of pain, then cold that quickly devolved into a burning sensation that was most unpleasant, but effective. When she lifted her hand away, the visible blood had been frozen solid and none leaked from the wound. "I don't have anything for bandages unless...

"There's a first aid kit in the back," he told her and she nodded.

Twisting about she squeezed between the front seats on a hunt for the first aid kit. "On the floor board, passenger side," he told her. That's when he noticed, her coat, while warm was far from waterproof and appeared to be soaked through. "How wet are you?"

She snorted. "Sorry, thoughts went to the wrong place at that comment." She spun about sliding back into the driver's seat with the prize in her hands. "Very. Coat feels like it weighs fifty pounds and I'm soaked through to the skin."

Jarod sighed; he was pretty much in the same state. The leather had kept out the worst of the drenching, but not all of it and his pants were as wet as hers. He reached forward and cranked the heat. It wouldn't do much good with the soft top, but was better than nothing. "We need to get undercover as quickly as possible."

"We will," she assured him, hands now holding assorted bandages. She worked quickly and mere minutes had passed when she sat back, urging him to pull his sweater back on. He did so as she put the first aid kit away.

Sliding back into the seat she put the car in gear and continued up the mountain, the conditions worsening every mile they drove further into the wilderness. They were silent for long minutes, Jarod trying to understand what she had done and how she had come to have such unique abilities. He decided to stay on safer ground for the time being. "Where are we headed?"

"Good fricking' question," she muttered. "I took the time to memorize maps of the area, I'm pretty certain we'll be able to find a round about route back towards town."

"We're not going to make it back to town, not tonight anyway." The weather would be what kept them away, they needed to find a place to hole up and dry off, and without running out of gas. "Any chance you memorized the location of a cabin or two?"

She nodded the same time her teeth began to chatter. "Yeah, I think I can find us a home away from home." She slowed and took a left, a gap in the trees revealing another ancient road, this one actually appeared to be better maintained than the previous one, but was no easier to drive on, the ice beginning to build up on every available surface, including tree branches, which were starting to droop into the roadway.

"One good thing about this situation."

"And what might that be?" she asked, glancing over at him.

"Goodrowe isn't going to be able to move the product until this passes."

Alyx snorted in wry amusement. "We can't do anything either."

"Oh, I think you and I have a lot to discuss, it just doesn't involve this case," Jarod stated quietly.

"Maybe," she commented, slowing the jeep and flipping the wipers higher, the ice building up on the blades, the heat inside not enough to melt it. The driving would not be getting any easier from here on out.  _*Is that all you want to discuss?*_

Jarod's eyes widened as he heard her voice in his head, her lips quite obviously not moving. "I thought that's what you did before. You are rather talented, aren't you?"

Alyx shrugged. "I am what they made me." She gave him a wan smile, an odd-looking one with her teeth chattering as hard as they were. "We'll talk later, I promise. Need my teeth to stop chattering first."

"I think we both have stories to tell," Jarod informed her, fully aware of that understatement.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 Hobbes's cell phone rang just as he was about to take a bite of the sandwich he had made. He sighed, set the food down and walked over to the table where he'd left it. The caller ID was Alyx's. "Hey, kid, where you at?"

_"Good frickin' question,"_  she muttered.  _"We ran into some trouble at the estate. The family is alive, though Mr. Hurst was not there."_

"I'm putting you on speaker, kid." He pressed the button and set the phone on the coffee table Fawkes's feet were currently resting on. "Hurst was with Goodrowe at the warehouse. The man is a sicko."

"With a dash of psycho," Darien added. "We need to stop this guy."

_"Did you learn when the guns are going to be moved_?" Jarod asked, voice sounding tinny over the intervening distance.

"Was supposed to be tomorrow, but this storm is shutting down the whole state. There's a blizzard behind all the ice. We have... a bug planted, so we'll hopefully get some warning, but there's not much else we can do right now." Hobbes hated that they were stuck with no options, but when mother nature chose to do her worst all you could do was hunker down and wait it out. The one good thing this time was that the bad guys were just as stuck as they were.

_"And we're not going to make it back to the resort tonight,"_  Alyx stated and Hobbes watched as Darien frowned deeply.

"Everything okay, kid?"

_"No, but it's nothing we can't handle,"_  she replied, trying to sound confident to Hobbes' ears, but missing the mark by a wide margin in his opinion.  _"We're looking for a house or cabin to wait out the storm. I should be able to keep us in contact unless the cell towers go down."_

"Convenient," Darien muttered, that frown on his features deepening.

"What happened?" Hobbes asked, needing to understand, and make certain she was all right. She was good, damn good, but shit still happened and if she were hurt or in trouble he would do whatever was necessary to fix it.

They could hear the sigh across the line.  _"Jarod got shot. We're too far out to make it back before the storm worsens, and... and we didn't want to risk leading Goodrowe's goons back to you. Leaves you free to make a play if we can't get back in time."_

Hobbes couldn't argue with that and it was exactly what he'd do. A glance at Fawkes revealed his total lack of enthusiasm for this plan, but it was her call, not theirs. She was a big girl and could handle both herself and Miner. "He gonna make it?"

Jarod laughed.  _"Yes, Agent Hobbes, I'll be fine if we can get undercover soon."_

Hobbes didn't like that phrasing, and neither did Fawkes, apparently. "What else?" he asked.

The silence held for a long moment before Alyx responded,  _"We were outside when the storm first hit, we got a wee bit drenched."_

"And the temp is dropping quickly," Darien finished, the reality of the situation hitting him quickly. Hobbes could see when he came to the only logical decision. "Get inside and get warm ASAP. Neither of you will be of any use frozen. Call us when you're secure."

_"Will do,"_  Alyx said, not sounding happy with the situation, which she shouldn't be.  _"Take care you two, this storm is going to get nasty and fast."_

"Don't worry about us, sweets, you take care of yourself," Darien told her in no uncertain terms. "And Jarod," he added quickly.

_"I will, D. Call you as soon as we're secure,"_  she said and then the line went dead, hopefully from her hanging up instead of things going fubar.

"They'll be fine, Fawkes," Hobbes assured his partner as he picked up and pocketed his phone, heading back to the kitchen and his meal.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Darien stated, that frown returning.

"Fawkes..." Hobbes wasn't certain what to say. The kid could play the game well, she would use her womanly wiles, so to speak, to get info just like any of them would, but Miner had called them in, no need to seduce the man. Now, that didn't mean the ATF agent wouldn't make some moves on her, but Hobbes couldn't see her responding. She was crazy about Fawkes, no way she'd screw that up for a fling with another agent, no matter how handsome.

"I know, Hobbes. I just..." His voice dropped to a near whisper. "I wonder why she's with me, y'know? No matter how much I want her, need her, I still wonder if she wants to be here."

Hobbes had suspected that, knew that under the bravado his partner had a decided lack of self-confidence, and where the kid was concerned... Hobbes could reassure his friend till he was blue in the face that the kid would always come back to him, but it would mean nothing coming from him. Hell, coming from Alyx. Until Fawkes realized all on his own that Alyx was his, he would never believe and would always doubt, in himself and in her. "Fawkes..." he shook his head, "this is convo you need to have with her, not me."

Fawkes sighed. "Yeah, I know, but she ain't here, you are." He stood, brow knitted with unhappiness. "She's off with  _Jarod_ ," he sneered.

"Who's been shot," Hobbes reminded.

"So she says."

"Fawkes-"

Darien waved a hand to cut off the words. "I know, no reason for her to lie."

"Exactly, my friend." Hobbes picked up his sandwich and drink, carried them to the dining table and sat down. "I'm just hoping they get under cover soon, they could easily freeze to death if stuck outside all night."

Darien rubbed his face in his hands, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. "They'll be fine, I'm betting she had every road and building anywhere near the estate memorized. She has a plan... Hell, she always has a plan even if she doesn't tell us about it."

Hobbes chuckled softly. "Ain't that the truth. Saved our butts more than a few times with that annoying habit of hers. Might be saving her own tonight."

Darien nodded in agreement. "All right, enough worrying for now. If we haven't heard from them in six hours,  _then_  I'll panic and screw the mission, we're calling in the cavalry to find 'em."

"Agreed. Now eat something, you're the reason we picked up all this food, remember?"

Darien swiped half of the sandwich off Hobbes' plate and took a huge bite before he could even complain of the theft.

"Thanks, Bobby."

"Welcome, Fawkes," he grouched, though it was mostly fake, actually amused at Fawkes being himself. Still, it was looking to be a long,  _long_  night for both of them.

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

Broots nervously entered the room where Sydney was working with Angelo. The disk he held in his hands could get him killed, just like almost everything else he'd done for Sydney or Miss Parker the last few years. He shuffled over to the computer in the center of the room and sat down at it. Sydney finished with Angelo and joined Broots at the desk.

"I found it... her, and it's really weird." He inserted the disk and called up the information he'd copied. "Oracle was an offshoot of The Pretender Program. The goal was to predict future events, but not just an single outcome, all of the potential ones."

Miss Parker blinked. "All potential outcomes? Predict the future and then choosing the best path to follow?" She turned to Sydney. "Is that even possible?"

"They apparently thought so," Sydney responded. "What happened to the program?"

Broots shook his head. "Most of the embryos were miscarried, the only ones that survived to birth were the McTierney twins."

Miss Parker's eyes went wide. "And what made them so special?"

"Perfect," Angelo muttered. "Perfect copies."

Miss Parker jumped on that one word. "Copies of whom?"

Sydney found the nearest chair and sat down in it heavily. "I don't even want to speculate, but given the one person that has been successfully... copied, I fear we all know the answer."

"You're telling me this Michael is another Jarod clone? What about the sister?" Miss Parker paced about the room. "And I thought they hadn't perfected their technique till... till..." she trailed off.

"Twins, not clones," Angelo argued, head shaking violently. "Not the same."

"Why weren't they brought into The Centre?" Sydney questioned.

"Luck of the weird kind," Broots explained, voice shaking. "Both children became part of a government program code named QSX. The genetic changes made to them as infants caused The Centre to cancel the project."

"So not only were these two children the only survivors of this Oracle project, but they got dragged into a second one run by the government?" Miss Parker questioned in utter disbelief. "How unlucky can these two be?"

"I'd say they were the opposite, they could have spent their lives living here," Broots pointed out.

"What was the goal of the QSX project?" Sydney asked.

"In short, genetic improvement of the species," Broots answered.

"And in detail?" Miss Parker prompted.

"You won't believe me."

"Try me," she stated coldly, sitting down on the edge of his desk.

"Invisibility and ESP."

Sydney snorted in utter disbelief. "You must be kidding."

"I wish I was. And according to the project notes I accessed, both children were tested and considered viable for Phase II of the project."

Miss Parker closed her eyes for a long moment. "You're telling me they succeeded?"

"Yes, but the program was discontinued and Phase II was never initiated," Broots told them. "The agency involved no longer exists."

"So how did she end up working with Jarod?" Sydney questioned in clear confusion.

"I don't know. According to public records, Michele McTierney is dead. Died in a car accident almost three years ago at age thirty-six." Broots hadn't been thrilled to learn the truth. The woman in the photo was in her twenties at most, which meant... which meant he didn't want to know.

"Are we certain they are the same woman?" Sydney asked.

"Oh yes," Angelo insisted. "Always the same."

"This is insane. So we have potential clones of Jarod running around that have been given superpowers?" Miss Parker summed up. "Good damn thing The Centre lost track of them."

Broots felt the blood drain from his face. "That's just it, they didn't. They've been watching them all along."

Miss Parker and Sydney exchanged a look that frightened Broots more than he already was.

"Who is in charge of their surveillance, Broots?"

Broots swallowed with some difficulty. "Mr. Lyle."

Miss Parker sighed heavily. "Why am I not surprised." She tipped her head to the side. "When Jarod contacts you have him warn her. The last thing that woman needs is to be dragged into The Centre. She might do well to stay far away from Jarod."

"Clearly, it is too late for that," Sydney pointed out. "Is Lyle currently aware she is with Jarod?"

Broots shook his head. "I honestly don't know. While responsible for monitoring her, I doubt he deals with it personally. Given Oracle is defunct I suspect they just want to keep an eye on her because she survived."

Sydney nodded in agreement. "The Centre never lets go of anything... not for long anyway."

"This is not going to end well, is it?" Broots groused.

Miss Parker got to her feet. "Does it ever?" She walked away, heading for the door. "Keep me informed."

 

**Vacation cabin**

**Montana, Northern Rockies**

 

"How did you know this place was here?" Jarod asked Alyx as he draped a blanket about her shoulders, her teeth still chattering.

Alyx looked up at him with a grateful smile, she was bloody freezing. Finding this place had been a challenge, oh, once she'd found the power lines it had been comparatively simple to follow them, but keeping the jeep on the road and the windshield clear enough to see through at the same time had taxed her resources. Then once inside the cabin they'd quickly deduced it was for summer use as opposed to a hunting cabin. While power for the fridge and freezer unit existed and remained on, there was no heat. Thankfully, there had been a fireplace and wood piled neatly under a tarp outside the back door. It had taken close to an hour, but they'd gotten the needed breakers flipped to get the lights on, and a fire started, which they now huddled in front of, in borrowed clothes. The family that had been here last had left behind a selection of summer wear, which they had both raided, their own clothes soaked through. Better dry and ill-fitting clothes than those dripping wet and shedding ice and snow.

"Power lines, how else?" she told him, rotating about to look at him as he sat next to her.

He chuckled. "Guess I should have figured that one out on my own. There is soup heating on the stove and I found some hot cocoa mix, once the water is hot I'll make us some."

"You are bleeding again," she stated, as the blanket about his shoulders slipped aside to reveal the bloodstained sleeve of his borrowed shirt. She should have dealt with that right away, but other needs had taken precedence at the time.

"It can wait till you're warm. Rather you have steady hands when you're sticking forceps in my arm."

Alyx shook her head. "You are making the bold and incorrect assumption that I need to use forceps," she told him. She shifted up onto her knees, moving the blanket and shirtsleeve aside to get a better look at the wound. "Is the first aid kit nearby? I want to clean this out and get a bandage on as soon as possible after I get the bullet out."

He tipped his head to the side, a serious look on his features. "You're not kidding are you?"

"Nope. My Florence Nightingale routine may be mediocre at best, but it's all we have right now." She gazed about the room, spotted the kit over by their clothes, which were draped over every available vertical surface in hopes of them drying prior to them taking their leave of the cabin. She wrapped the blanket tighter about her shoulders and padded over to the end table, retrieved the kit and returned to Jarod's side.

He set a hand over hers. "This can wait."

She sucked in a breath, thankful she felt nothing other than his hand on hers. While not even close to being sense blind, she was tired and didn't want any part of having Jarod's thoughts and emotions overwhelming hers. Granted, she couldn't help but know his general feelings thanks to that surprise connection and nearness, but it was just background noise, nothing that demanded her attention. "No, it can't. What? You afraid I'm going to turn into a girl and faint or something?"

Jarod chuckled softly. "That is the last thing I am worried about." He shifted, so that she had better access to the wound. "Let's get this done."

Alyx went through the kit, removing the miniscule alcohol swabs, gauze and medical tape, setting them all within easy reach. She ripped open two of the alcohol packages, then met Jarod's eyes and winked, making him smile. "This is going to hurt." She focused her mind, seeking out and finding the slug of metal buried in his shoulder. Near as she could tell it had missed the bone, and only the muscle had been damaged, thankfully not all that badly as he'd been using it, though with a limited range of motion. Once certain she had the bullet, she pulled as quickly as she dared, backing it out the same hole it had created during its violent entry.

Jarod grunted in discomfort, eyes widening as he saw the bullet hanging in the air between them. Using his left hand, he grasped it and Alyx released her hold, allowing him to take it while she squeezed as much of the alcohol she could out of the swabs and onto the bullet hole. He scrunched up his face at the stinging sensation, but his focus remained on the bullet he now held.

"You're a telekinetic," he stated, not looking at her, still fascinated with the blood-covered bullet between his fingers.

"Nope," she responded, probing gently at the freshly bleeding wound. She cleaned it as best she good with the lack of appropriate supplies and then bandaged it. When she finished she met Jarod's eyes, complete with questioning look in them. "What?"

He shook his head laughing softly. "You're going to make me work for this, aren't you?"

She shrugged and moved to clean up the mess she'd made patching him up. "I have the feeling you aren't challenged very often."

"You'd be right." The teakettle began whistling then. "Stay, I'll get it," he told her in no uncertain terms, not that she was about to argue, she wanted little more than to scoot closer to the fire and thaw out. She watched as he padded across the room, the blanket left behind on the floor as he headed for the tiny kitchen in this tiny cabin.

With a minor expenditure of energy she moved the sofa closer to the fireplace, wanting to lean back against it. She stared into the flames, not wanting to think about anything of importance, Jarod's thoughts and emotions a quiet mutter in the back of her mind. With focus, Darien came to the forefront of her mind. He was not a happy camper right now, wanting to know where she was, if she were safe... all jumbled up and tangled together. He felt... off, but she had no idea why. Reaching for her pile of belongings, she snagged her cell phone and dialed Darien's.

After three rings it was answered.  _"Alyx? Everything all right?"_

She forced her teeth to not chatter. "Good enough. Found a vacation cabin to spend the night in. We won't freeze to death anyway."

Jarod came out with two cups of hot cocoa, handed one to her and then sat gingerly on the edge of the couch without saying a word.

_"Well that's always a plus. We've been warned the resort might lose power thanks to the ice, but so far so good."_

"And I'm just hoping a tree won't fall and crush us. We're out in the middle of nowhere. On the plus side, doubt the bad guys followed us," Alyx told him, keeping her tone light. "We'll be out of here the first chance we get."

_"Don't take any unnecessary risks. If the roads suck they suck."_  There was a pause and the sound of the phone being fought over, though she had no idea why.

_"Kid, I already told you not to worry about us. Stay safe and undercover. When you can head back down the mountain let us know, until then take care of yourselves, got me?"_

Alyx glanced over at Jarod who looked amused at the gruff, maternal tone Hobbesy's voice had taken on.

"I got it, Bobby, now put Darien back on."

_"S'up, sweets?"_

"Just wanted to make certain you were all right. I know I'm tired, but you feel... off to me."

There was muttering for a few seconds, before he finally responded,  _"I'm fine... I think."_

"You think? Talk to me, D."

_"It's nothing much, just some residual numbness from the shock and..."_  he trailed off, reluctance to continue obvious in his tone of voice.

"And? If you don't want me to worry... or walk down this mountain to get to you, telling me might be wise about now."

Jarod snorted, realizing she was not joking.

_"I... Claire dosed me with the new inhibitor and it seems to be working."_

"Damn," Alyx muttered. "Any weirdness?"

There was silence for long minutes, so long Alyx worried that the phone line had gone down in the storm, but he finally spoke,  _"I don't think so?"_

"But you're not sure," she stated, closing her eyes to better feel him across the intervening distance. She wished she could be there, wanted to be there, but once again the job had separated them, the needs of others taking precedence over their lives.

_"No, I'm not sure. I feel, much as you said, off."_

Static crackled across the line, which boded ill for the connection lasting much longer, so she hurried. "The new inhibitor works differently, so trust your gut. The monitor calibration could be incorrect... so don't wait until the visible symptoms appear. If you even think you need a shot, start with a half dose and go from there."

Darien audibly sighed.  _"A plan. I'll fill Hobbesy in. You... you come back to me in one piece, understand?"_  The static had gotten so pronounced that he could barely be heard.

"I promise," she assured him, but was uncertain if he'd heard as the signal dissolved into white noise and then went dead. "Shit," she muttered.

"Problem?" Jarod asked.

"Signal died, and since we still have power, I suspect it's either the cell tower or the resort. Darien said they might lose power." She set her phone aside with a sigh. "Now I'm worried about them being safe." She rubbed her face in her hands.

Jarod set a hand on her shoulder. "They will be fine. They are more than capable of handling themselves."

"I know," She smiled up at him, "but I'll still worry."

"You care about both of them... as more than just partners."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she grouched and sipped at the hot chocolate, which had barely cooled enough to be tolerable. Her stomach growled, wanting more that the sugary calories of the drink, her body, however, enjoyed the faux-warming effect, her shivers finally beginning to ease.

Jarod shook his head. "No, not a bad thing, though not a good thing either. It just is I suppose. I'm just concerned that your attention will be divided when it comes time to do the job," he explained in a soft voice, going for the gentlest impact possible. He had no idea that the concern, though justified was unwarranted.

"Trust me, Jarod, the job comes first. I may worry, but it won't interfere," she assured him.

He cocked his head slightly. "I do trust you, but you clearly have more than a working relationship with Fawkes, especially given the way he ordered me to bring you back undamaged."

Alyx rolled her eyes. "He can be a bit... possessive."

"Your... Agency permits relationships between co-workers?"

Alyx shook her head. "Nope, but me and Darien are exceptions to just about every rule written for the spy biz." She yawned then, finally warm enough for the stress of the afternoon to take hold of her. "Sorry, finding this place took quite a bit out of me."

He bounced an eyebrow upwards. "I take it the drive would not have been quite so smooth without your other abilities."

"You take it correctly." She could smell the soup, her stomach growling even louder this time, loud enough for Jarod to hear. She pushed herself upright and made her way to the kitchen. She picked up the wooden spoon and gave the contents of the pot a stir. She didn't have to turn about to know Jarod had followed her, his mind a cool, confident presence in hers. "Darien and I... we come from outside the system, neither of us planned to end up as spies... lucky for us we're both very good at it."

"I suspect you don't have the same jealousy issues." He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

She dug in the drawers, found a normal spoon, and used it to taste the soup. It may have been canned, but it wasn't half bad. "He still has trouble separating work from... us. He's trying, but sometimes..." She trailed off, shuffling about to find bowls so that the two of them could actually eat.

"Considering you were married to your work at one point, I can't say that I blame him." Jarod moved to help her, reaching for the bowls that were foolishly placed on the top shelf, when even stretched on her toes she couldn't get to them.

"Thanks." She took the bowls and filled them with soup, handing one to him. "So you know about Ariana." She blew on the steaming soup, the cold air in the room making it appear to be far hotter than it truly was.

Jarod reached about her to turn the burner off. "And Piotr. You know we almost met once before. I was on one of the investigation teams after she... you died." He followed her back to the sitting area, this time they both sat on the couch, she mentally dragged over an end table for them to set their bowls on. "You did one hell of a job, no one suspected you were anyone else."

She gave him a grim smile. "As it should be." They ate for several minutes in silence. She could feel he wanted more, but she wanted to take a moment to phrase her words with care. "Darien intellectually understands that part of the job means using any means necessary to get the info or turn your asset, hell, he's done it himself a time or two, he just..."

"He doesn't feel worthy of you. Thinks you're going to leave him one day," Jarod summed up, not even hesitating for an instant.

She failed to contain her reaction, slight as it was. "That's it exactly. And no matter what I say, no matter how many times I come back to him, he still expects me to walk away." She shrugged. "One day he'll understand." She used her thumb to twist the ring about, the eyes of the snake coiled there flashing in the firelight.

"That from him?" Jarod gestured at her hand.

"Yeah. The closest I could come to what he wanted." She still wished she'd been able to tell him yes, but in all good conscience she couldn't... wouldn't.

"Marriage? He doesn't seem the type."

Alyx snorted. "I thought the same." She scraped the bottom of the bowl, the food not quite what she needed, but better then nothing. She set the empty bowl down, and rubbed her forehead, the headache mild but there. "How bad is the weather?"

"Bad enough. Your promise of getting out of here tomorrow might not be possible," he told her.

"I know, but we can't stay here. If Goodrowe was spooked by our visit he might just kill the family on principle." She shifted curling her legs up and leaning back into the surprisingly comfortable cushions.

"Possible, but not likely."

She yawned. "But not a risk I am willing to take. Once the storm lets up we'll make our way back down the mountain."

"Not arguing," Jarod assured her. "Just don't want to risk our lives to save theirs."

"Ah, the ol' no good to them dead ploy. That one still works on me, you'll be happy to know." She smiled at him, a sleepy smile even she would admit.

"You need to rest."

"So do you," she grumbled, her eyes wanting to drift shut, now that she was fed and reasonably warm.

"And I will, later. It's early yet, you just overdid it to get us here." He got up, grabbing the bowls. "Take a nap, I still have plenty of questions I want answered."

She allowed her body to slide down, using the cushioned arm as a pillow and cocooning herself in the blanket. "I have my share as well," she countered, looking up to meet his gaze, his quiet controlled mind a soft purr in the back of hers, it was oddly comforting, like being with family. It made no sense to her, but she didn't have the energy to delve deeper into it. "Why do I know you?"

He twitched. "I don't know, but we do, don't we?"

She nodded. "After I get some sleep." She allowed her eyes to drift shut, not wanting to consider the ramifications of that knowledge. There would be plenty of time to figure it out, especially if they were going to be snowed in all night. She pushed Jarod into the background, instead focusing on Darien, his warm, caring presence just what she needed to finally allow her mind to relax that final step and drift off into healing slumber.

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

"What do you mean they're together?" Mr. Lyle snarled, rising up from behind his desk.

"We intercepted an email." The man handed over a grainy printout of the picture Jarod had sent to Sydney. "We've gotten confirmation from one of her watchers that she is indeed in Montana and Jarod has been seen as well.

"They were  _never_  supposed to meet," Lyle shouted at the man who flinched back from him. "The genetic markers in them will  _guarantee_  they know who they are to each other."

"Perhaps not. With what has been done to her, the marker may no longer be functional," he suggested backing away slightly from Lyle.

"Possible," Lyle agreed, calming down slightly. "But she has exceeded all our expectations from the start and the likelihood the marker has failed is slim." He crumpled up the picture. "Is there any chance we can move on her now?"

"No. The people on the ground are not equipped to handle her and weather has moved in that will prevent anyone else from getting to her for several days at least."

"And by then it may be too late," Lyle grumbled, not thrilled. "Has the Tower been made aware of the situation yet?"

He shook his head. "You are primary on this, you get to decide."

Lyle frowned, this was not exactly the kind of news he wanted to give those above him without definitive answers. "Monitor the situation... I understand it may be difficult with the weather issues, have them do the best they can and report in as soon as they know anything. Understood?"

He nodded. "Understood." He turned and left the room, leaving Lyle to glare at the far wall, tapping his desktop with a single finger. Perhaps he should consult with Miss Parker, she might have some insight into what Jarod might be doing this time.

No, that would be that last thing he would do, but watch her and use the information he gathered? That he would do.

 

~^~^~^~^~

 

" _It was thus rather the exacting nature of my aspirations than any particular degradation in my fault, that made me what I was, and with even a deeper trench than in the majority of men, severed in me those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound man's dual nature."_

_Now, I've never claimed to be good, per se. For a thief I was generally pretty honest, but I never really considered myself evil. That lovely bad boy stigma so many aspire to was my way of life. Then I ended up at the Agency, and the whole good and evil thing took on a whole new meaning for me._

_I got the pleasure of learning what few men do about themselves: how evil they can truly be._

 

 

Darien sighed in irritation and glared at his phone.

"Still no luck?"

He shook his head. "Something must be down. Cell tower maybe." He paced about the conference room. They had made their way through the viscous weather to the main lobby building when the power to their cabin had gone out, just like the hotel staff had warned them it might. They hadn't yet turned on the generators, though based on the news reports would probably need to before the night was out.

"She said they were safe, right?" Hobbes sipped at the coffee, which was flowing freely for all the guests who had been displaced by the surprise power outage.

Darien nodded. Whoever the local forecasters were they sucked, big time. A few inches of snow had turned into an ice storm followed by blinding, wind driven snow. And while they insisted it would blow over by dawn, Darien seriously doubted it given their accuracy so far. "Yeah," He rubbed the back of his head, "they found some summer vacation cabin to hole up in."

"So as long as a tree don't fall on them they'll be fine."

"Gee, Hobbes, thanks for that. Like I ain't worrying enough already." He paced irritably around the conference table, eyes roving over all the information certain they had missed something of importance.

Hobbes snorted. "You think she can't take care of herself?"

"Not her I'm worried about," Darien muttered.

"Fawkes?" Hobbes questioned. "You know something I don't?"

Darien shook his head. "Not a thing. Then again when do I?" he groused. The room was too damn small, he needed to get out, get away, but had nowhere to go. Oh, he could go pace about the lobby, or the restaurant/bar combo, but there were far too many people there. No, he wanted to be alone, with lots and lots of alcohol.

"Fawkes, you okay?" Hobbes set his cup down, the concern on his face obvious to even a blind man, and Darien was far from blind.

He wished Alyx were here, hell, he wished they were back home in his apartment very much alone. Instead, they were in the middle the Montana mountain wilderness in the middle of an early winter snowstorm that was looking to shut down the sad excuse of a town. The hotel manager assured them this was nothing the local authorities couldn't handle, but that didn't give him much confidence. He'd gone through a storm or two growing up in Cold Springs, but he hadn't had to deal with anything like it... at least not since that one mission when all four of them had been forced to face down a hotel full terrorists and managed to walk away mostly unharmed, in years. "Headache," he admitted.

"Headache headache or evil cousin id looking to pay us a visit?"

Darien glanced down at his wrist, making note of the single red scale that could still be seen. It didn't make any sense, but the new inhibitor clearly worked even better than Claire had hoped. He showed Bobby. "According to my friend here, it's just a headache. Maybe the weather." He shrugged.

"Maybe you're worried about the kid being with Agent Miner," Hobbes suggested coolly, trying to make it sound as if it were of no importance whatsoever.

Darien heard growling and it took a moment for him to realize it was coming from his own throat.

"Fawkes," Hobbes warned.

"I'm fine."

"And I want you to stay that way. You've been moody all day long, and not your usual the kid's been gone too long moody," Hobbes told him in no uncertain terms. "The inhibitor is new, Keep said to watch for unusual symptoms, maybe this is one of 'em?"

"Like I should know?" Darien snapped, thoroughly over this discussion. "What's our move going to be once the weather clears?" He really hoped Hobbes would take this out else he might be forced to punch him in the face and that... that would not go over well.

Hobbes frowned, but allowed the change of subject to take place. "Good frickin' question. Fair bet he's going to want those guns moved ASAP, so once we can we'll head back to the warehouse and stake it out, hope we can figure out their game plan before they move."

"And Alyx and... Miner?" Darien had no idea why his voice caught on the man's name. Guy seemed to be on the up and up and this situation certainly needed dealing with, but... but he was alone with Alyx. Far too convenient that for Darien's taste. God alone knew the man's real motives, he could have paired with Darien just as easily as Alyx, yet he chose the pretty girl. Big shocker there. Was there anyone who wouldn't go after her, try and tear her away from him? When would they ever get their time?

"When the phones are back up we get back in contact and figure out a game plan. We hope they located the family and coordinate with them. Rescue the family, stop the sale."

Two-man teams it is," Darien grumbled, wanting Alyx all for himself.

"Yeah. And her with him makes the most sense. She's better at covering her tricks than you," Hobbes pointed out, making complete sense even as Darien hated every word his partner said.

He balled his hands into fists, stalking away from his friend and his logic. "I know it makes sense, I know she's better than me, you don't have to keep reminding me every chance you get."

"Whoa there, that ain't what I meant. Don't forget he had no idea she'd be along for the ride." Hobbes stood his ground even as Darien moved towards him, anger making him shake in reaction.

"And why is she here? She made sure to be here, what game is she playing now?"

Bobby stood there for a long moment, confusion, and concern chasing themselves across his face. "What the hell is going on with you, Fawkes?"

Bobby's tone was as effective as a slap across the face, the unreasoning anger draining away in an instant. His head throbbed dully. Maybe he had elevation sickness. Not like he spent much time up mountainsides in San Diego even with all the hills there were in the city. "Crap," he muttered, knuckling his eye. "I think I need some sleep."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Let's steal some couches from the lobby and crash in here. We need to be at the top of our game when the weather decides to cooperate." Hobbes headed for the door, intending to do exactly that, with a sigh Darien followed along. Maybe he could talk Hobbes into a drink or two so he might actually be able to sleep.

 

~^~^~^~^~

 

Jarod glared disconsolately at the remaining battery life for his laptop. He'd been trying to access his email for an hour now, but the signal had been intermittent at best. He knew he had an email from Sydney, but had not yet been able to get to it, and now... now his battery was claiming to be nearly dead, and his charger was back at the hotel, being completely useless at the moment. He really wanted to chat with his friend, but with the lack of power... it wasn't likely to be happening any time in the near future.

Over on the couch Alyx sat up, arms stretched above her head, her hair a riot of curls. She got to her feet, muttering under breath about the cold floor, before walking back towards the rear of the cabin, probably heading for the bathroom back there. She returned a few minutes later, the blanket still wrapped about her, as it was only truly warm right in front of the fireplace, which he'd kept going while she napped. She'd been out for a couple hours, the storm not having eased up, as of yet, so they would not be going anyway for quite a while. She went to her clothes, running her hands over them, and frowning.

"Still wet?"

"Much to my dismay," she said with a nod. She shifted some of them about, in an effort to hasten the drying process. "I just don't feel like my usual stylish self in my current outfit." She gave him a smile, then checked her weapon, which sat on the tiny dining table, assuring herself that it was loaded and still functioned. Jarod certainly didn't expect to be attacked here; the weather pretty much insured that.

"Why do you carry the gun? I get the impression that you don't exactly need it."

She gave him a brilliant smile. "Gotten curious have we?"

"That would be an accurate summation."

"And your friends haven't gotten you the intel you wanted? That is why you wanted my real name, right?" She leaned back against the table, watching him with wary eyes.

Jarod sighed and waved at his laptop. "I have no way of knowing. Can't get a consistent signal out and my battery is just about dead."

She cocked her head to the side, then moved to stand beside him. "I might be able to help with that." She reached out and set a single finger on the machine, the screen blinked, but the battery now claimed to be at one hundred percent capacity.

"Amazing," he said in hushed tones, truly impressed. "You say you're not a telekinetic, yet I watched to throw that man without touching him physically, you spoke to me in my mind, which suggests telepathy, and I am quite certain you turned both of us invisible to get away from Goodrowe's men." He leaned back in the chair to look up at her, once again stunned at the connection he felt with her. "What are you?"

She patted him on the shoulder. "I've been asking myself that very question for a few years now." She stepped away to grab and drag over one of the few chairs free of drying clothes. She sat down next to him, pulling up both feet to sit cross-legged. "I have been granted abilities far beyond those of mortal men," she intoned, then laughed at her own words.

"You weren't born with these abilities."

She shook her head. "No. I was genetically... enhanced, starting just a few days after my birth."

"Retroviral splicing?" he guessed. It would be a challenge, but could work.

"Not exactly, though that would probably work. Viral, yes, but a lot more literally."

Jarod thought about that comment for several minutes, putting all his learned knowledge to work on the problem. "Damn, that's... that is bold." He looked her right in the eyes... her silver eyes. "And you survived it."

"That's debatable," she groused. At his sharp look, she added. "Five of those tested survived, I'm the only one whose abilities were fully activated."

"How many were tested?" He didn't really want to know the answer, but suspected he needed it to understand her.

"Two hundred."

That meant most had died. "Did any of the other show any abilities?"

She nodded. "All did, but most of them were too minor for any continuing interest. Only my brother Michael and I had any significant abilities."

Jarod found that very interesting indeed. Why just these two? "Does your brother turn invisible too?" She felt uncomfortable, so he kept his tone light in order to keep her at ease and willing to talk.

"No. He has chosen to not have Phase II done."

"Phase II?" Before she had a chance to speak, he raised a hand to forestall her. "This might be simpler if you told me what you know instead of me asking dozens of questions."

"I can make it even simpler, if you are willing." She held out her hand and after a moment of confusion he grasped it, not certain what to expect.

What he got was information, lots and lots of information dumped into his mind. Everything she knew about the QSX project and how she had come to be gifted of unique abilities. He had no idea how long the transfer took, but he knew several minutes had passed while he poured through it, doing his best to understand every bit of it. His mind, his ability to absorb and use any knowledge he gained allowed him to do that very thing. When he opened eyes he hadn't realized he had closed, to look right at her she sat there with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Headache?" she asked.

"No," he told her, his newfound knowledge telling him that most people did get headaches in reaction to this type of information transfer, which, while remarkably efficient was not normal by any stretch of the imagination. Add to that the fact that his brain was as far beyond normal as hers, and it became less surprising that he did not have the same distressing side-effects of more ordinary people. "You've had an interesting couple of years, haven't you?"

She snickered. "That is one way to describe it. You have had a much more... challenging life." She rubbed the side of her head, huddled about herself, and said softly, "You are not responsible for what others have done."

He didn't even bother to question how she knew that. If she could send information, she should be able to receive it, and he now suspected that is exactly what happened on the porch of their cabin just last night. "Can you control that ability?"

"Usually." She shrugged. "Sometimes it gets away from me."

"Or simply makes certain you have the information you need even if you are unaware of it." Damn, she was incredible at controlling her reactions. Not even a blink at his comment. "How much did you learn about me?"

She laughed, though there was more than a touch of bitterness to it. "How much didn't I learn would be a more accurate question." She sighed, closing her eyes for a long moment. "Lucky for you most of it is a muddled blur that will take time to examine in any detail. I would like to know what The Centre is and what makes you a Pretender?"

Jarod shook his head, trying not to smile. "I'm pretty certain I'm not the only Pretender in this room."

She looked about, as if searching for the other person he might be talking about. "And why would you think that?"

"Because I  _know_  you and I shouldn't. The connection between us, have you ever felt anything like it before?"

He was certain what the answer would be so felt quite surprised when she said, "Yes."

"With whom?"

"Family and... Darien."

"You have a mental connection with Agent Fawkes? No wonder you ended up together. His emotional influence must have been difficult to deal with."

"That's putting it mildly, especially since it happened before I had adequate control over my abilities." She reached out to set her cold fingers against his cheek, a tingling sensation like a static charge all along his skin. "My abilities are energy based, manipulating electricity is very easy for me. I'm sensitive enough to feel air molecules."

"And that allows you to mimic other abilities. Interesting."

"You keep saying that as if it's a good thing." She stood up and paced away, her mood turning downward, which hadn't been his intention, he simply wished to understand. Understand her and maybe understand what they were to each other.

"Michele-"

"Don't call me that," she snapped, spinning about to shoot an anger-filled glare at him. "She is dead."

Jarod got to his feet and went to her, setting his hands on her shoulders. "No, she isn't. She's right here." He could feel her unhappiness, got the distinct impression that the only way she'd been able to handle this change in her life was by separating her old from her new and, while he understood the reasoning behind it, he knew it would be detrimental to her sense of self. He knew that from personal experience.

"Shit," she snarled. "I don't need this. Don't need yet another person living in my head. There's too many in there already."

"Wait, you retain the memories of those you... touch?" he asked. He had played many roles, been many people, but never had any trouble separating Jarod from all those others. Even though he had no idea who  _he_  really was.

"Yes." She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out to a slow count of ten. "Sorry, just a bit out of sorts."

"You need more info."

"Gods, that is so the last thing I need. I have so much info stuffed into my head we're lucky my brains haven't oozed out my ears." She managed a wan smile then stepped away, leaving Jarod's hands to fall to his sides.

"Perhaps, answers instead?"

"You have any of those? 'Cause I'm fresh out."

"No, but my... contact might." He gestured at the computer. "Just need a solid signal out."

Her gaze narrowed. "Which I can provide," she muttered. "You had this planned all along," she accused, but without appearing overtly upset about it.

"No, not all along. This," he waved at the room about them, "had never been part of the plan. In fact it's keeping me from my real goal."

"Saving the Hursts." Alyx nodded. "Why should I trust you?"

"Why shouldn't you? You have me in your head, is there anything you feel you can't trust?" Jarod could only hope her answer would favor him, if she so chose she could arrest him and turn him over to The Centre, which would not be a good thing.

"Oh, that is so a loaded question, Jarod."

"Not really, if you didn't trust me you would have told your partners the truth about me and I would probably be under house arrest in my cabin back at the resort."

"You think you're so smart."

Jarod looked at her solemnly. "Yes, I do. Though I doubt I can hold a candle to you."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You so do not want to get into an argument about who's smarter..."

"Because I'd lose?" Jarod quipped, pleased when she smiled in response. He was more than smart enough to realize that her being angry would be good for neither of them. "Control issues or personality issues?"

She frowned. He didn't like how her emotions seemed to be flip-flopping all over the place.

"Both. Seems those who created me wanted control so much they decided to try programming me." She tapped her temple. "The control failed, the programming remained... then fractured. My psyche is more than a tad scrambled." She shrugged. "Sometimes my hold falters. That can happen when there are too many other people in your head."

He knew about programming, though he'd been lucky that Sydney had not used any of those more overt techniques with his charge. If he had been assigned to Raines... well, he wouldn't be the man he was today. No, he'd be far more likely to have had his mind twisted or be dead. Few of Raines' pet projects had survived. Angelo was one, and only because Sydney had taken over guiding his talents, much to Raines' unhappiness. "Do you remember who you were?"

"Yes, it's just hard to hold onto on occasion," she told him truthfully.

"Maybe... maybe I can help."

She tipped her head to the side, watching him carefully. "Maybe you can. Maybe your friends can as well?"

"Only one way to find out," he stated, looking pointedly back over at the computer.

"You just want me for my abilities," she grumbled, but with a smile. He got the impression that she had gotten used to being used as little more than a tool. Still, she walked over to the chair she'd been sitting in minutes before and settled back into it. "Well, we gonna do this or not?"

Jarod smiled and shook her head, astonished at how fast she could switch tracks. She was more like him than even he had realized. High emotions, moody, and yet shockingly focused. He would not want to be in her way once she had decided to accomplish something. She would steamroll right over him. "Yes, we are." He took his spot in front of the laptop, and fired up the video connection. The wireless connection crapped out almost immediately, not able to find a signal, the storm interfering one way or another. "No signal he informed her."

"Is there a land line?"

"Yes, why?" He had an Ethernet port, but hadn't used it since the wireless companies started piggy-backing internet signals on their phone systems.

"Grab it and plug it in." When he hesitated, she sighed. "Which one of us can manipulate computers and power with her mind? Trust me."

There was little point in arguing with that statement so he did as she asked, though it did require a slight rearrangement of the room, as the landline didn't reach where the computer had been set up.

Once settled, she rested a hand on the laptop and nodded for him to make the call. This time the connection went through without an issue and mere moments later Sydney's countenance appeared on the screen.

_"Jarod, I wasn't expecting to hear from you given the weather where you currently are,"_ Sydney commented, both sounding concerned and giving him the knowledge that he, at the very least, knew roughly where Jarod was working this time.

He turned to Alyx. "They probably traced my phone call and got a rough location."

"Really," Alyx snarked, "I never would have guessed."

She didn't come across as upset, no she was most certainly amused. Jarod was hard pressed to not chuckle at her dry amusement. "Sydney, have you got any information for me?"

_"Jarod, your friend is not what she seems."_  That statement was made by Miss Parker as she stepped in behind Sydney.

Jarod glanced over at Alyx, who snickered. "I am very much aware of that fact," he stated drolly. The screen split then, a second video connection with Broots coming online.

_"Jarod, good to see you,"_ Broots, master of prevarication began.  _"The Centre has... an interest in her."_

_"Broots, has found some interesting information on your friend,"_  Sydney offered, adding to the prevarication party happening right now.

"Perhaps you'd like to share this information," Alyx requested, sounding polite, but Jarod could hear the hard edge to her words, could feel the tension beginning to build within her.

_"The project her parents were targeted for is named Oracle,"_  Sydney told them, perhaps sensing that Alyx was nowhere near as patient as Jarod.

"Targeted," she echoed. "Lovely choice of words."

_"Can't argue with that,"_  Miss Parker commented, clearly agreeing with Alyx.  _"NuGenesis was involved. Did your parents have any reason to consult a fertility clinic?"_

NuGenesis. That was anything but good. They had been the company twice put in charge of seeking out and finding potential Pretenders. If they had been involved, then what he'd surmised about Alyx might very well be true.

"Not that I'm aware of, though if it involves my conception I wasn't exactly around to observe the goings on," Alyx stated with a straight face.

Broots snorted in amusement.  _"According to the records I accessed they did. Do... do you want me to send you the information we have."_

"Duh," Alyx snarked. "Give us the overview now, I can only hold this connection open for so long."

Jarod watched the reactions on the three faces across the country from them, and had to admit the shocked expressions impressed him.

_"It worked? The QSX project worked?"_  Sydney asked in pure disbelief.

Jarod glanced at Alyx who shrugged, allowing him to decide how much to tell. "Worked is a poor description. While the results of the enhancements were random, it did indeed work. She is quite skilled."

Miss Parker waved a hand.  _"Do not give us the details. The less we know the better..."_  She trailed off, her look speaking volumes to Jarod.

"And Oracle?" he prompted.

_"Exactly what it sounds like. They wanted to create a Pretender with predictive abilities. Play the role, forsee the outcome,"_  Broots explained quickly.

"No, they wanted a prescient. Someone who could predict  _every_  potential outcome," Jarod corrected, glancing over at Alyx.

_"And can she do that?"_  Miss Parker's focus switched from Jarod to Alyx.  _"Can you do that?"_

Alyx narrowed her eyes. "And if I say yes? Would you start hunting me as well?"

_"No. We have no interest in you other than your... relationship with Jarod."_  Sydney's voice had taken on that over-calm tone that meant nothing other than bad news.

"So who is looking for her?"

_"Mr. Lyle,"_  Broots answered.  _"It was Raines' project back in the day. She and her brother were the only recorded survivors, however..."_

"Whoever ran the QSX project got to them first," Jarod finished. "How smart are you?" he asked of Alyx.

She frowned slightly. "Very. College at sixteen."

_"But only because you chose not to advance sooner,"_  Sydney posited, and Alyx's twitch of reaction proved it to be correct.

"Alyx?" Jarod questioned.

She shrugged. "I wanted to be... normal," she admitted. "I found it surprisingly easy to... pretend to be less than I was."

_"As I suspected. Jarod we have reason to believe that Raines used a primitive version of the techniques perfected in the Gemini project to create her and her twin,"_ Sydney explained, the words hitting home and making Jarod's heart pound painfully hard in his chest.

"So, she is..."

_"She's your sister,"_  Miss Parker stated in her typical blunt way.

"No," Jarod argued. "She's my clone... isn't she?"

_"Y... y... yes,"_ Broots stuttered out. " _Modified using eugenics, according to the data. A new generation of Pretenders who could see the future."_  Broots glanced away, and Sydney nodded.  _"They coded genetic markers into their DNA, markers that you would recognize."_

Jarod went completely still at that comment. It explained everything. Imagine two Pretenders working in tandem, one of whom could predict the future... The Centre would be unstoppable and even more dangerous than they already were. He would not allow that to happen. Would not allow Alyx to be sucked into that world. Would not see her gifts abused and used for all the wrong reasons. Having gone to the Agency might be the one thing that could protect her.

_"I take it the genetic marker is functional?"_  Sydney asked even though it was clear he knew the answer.

"Fully," Alyx answered. "And that might be to The Centre's detriment." She turned to Jarod. "We need to wrap this up. Even I have limits and I'm reaching them."

Jarod understood that those limits were not related to her abilities, but her patience. That total strangers knew more about her and who... what she was than she did herself would be driving her to the edge. That she was not the person she had been just ten minutes ago. Her entire world view had been knocked off its already less than stable axis and her only visible reaction was to want a few minutes to assimilate and process. "Are they coming after Alyx?"

Sydney glanced up at Miss Parker who shook her head.  _"Not that we know of."_

_"We can try to warn you if... when..."_  Broots stuttered to a halt.  _"I wouldn't stay where you are any longer than necessary, they..."_

Miss Parker growled softly.  _"Unless you have some magic power that scrambles your video signal, Lyle will learn about this... about you and he might have no choice but to come after you."_

Alyx smiled. "He's welcome to try."

_"Jarod, I think perhaps you should tell her about The Centre... and what they are really capable of. She needs to know."_  Sydney sounded truly concerned, but Jarod agreed, she needed to know, to understand exactly how dangerous The Centre and their sponsors, the Triumvirate were. They had all night, best he make good use of the time.

"Thank you, Sydney. I will." On those words, he closed the connection and turned to Alyx who immediately got up and walked to the kitchen, her bare feet silent on the hard wood floors, the blanket she'd been wrapped in, left behind even though the temperature in the cabin remained chilly at best. He heard a door open and moved to follow her.

He found her standing outside, the rear door left wide open to allow snow to blow inside. He joined her, ignoring the wind and snowflakes falling about them more than heavily enough to settle and begin to build upon them even after just a few minutes.

"I'm sorry," he told her, meaning it. This had not been his intention, he had not planned on upending her corner of the universe with his presence.

"Why? It's not like you did this to me." She hadn't turned about to face him, had remained staring stoically out into the darkness and falling snow. "Hell, it's not like you knew I would be here."

"Why are you here? Your partners mentioned that you finished up another job early to join them?" He'd wondered that since first meeting her.

"Does it matter?"

"I have the feeling it does."

She sighed, one hand coming up to rub her forehead. "I had a recurring dream about Darien, one that did not end well for him."

"So you are prescient."

"You had any doubt?" She shook her head, the light dusting of snow that had accumulated falling off to join the pile that hid her bare feet. "It's not like I have control over it. Sometimes it's dreams, sometimes when I touch someone I see what might happen. Sometimes I can even prevent it." She turned about to look up at him. "But not always."

"And this time?"

"Don't know yet, we haven't reached the cusp, but in my dream I was never here, so it is possible just my presence will have changed that future."

Jarod wanted to erase that dismay from her voice, but had no idea how to go about it. "Alyx-"

"You know they've always wondered how my precognitive ability tied into all the rest." She tipped her head down, shaking it. "Now we know." She laughed bitterly. "Ah, Kevin you have seriously fucked up your brother."

Jarod probably looked as confused as he felt. "Should I ask?"

"Might as well," she stated, "I have the feeling you'll be more than willing to keep it to yourself."

"Of course."

"I'm not the only one who can turn invisible. Darien can as well, though the method is different. His brother created an artificial gland that secretes a substance called Quicksilver, which bends light..."

"Making the person invisible. That's what you did, but... but it's not an artificial gland for you."

"Nope, just genetics... well, modified genetics that is."

Jarod tried to figure out how an artificial gland tied back to her. It didn't take long for him to put the pieces together. "This Kevin used a sample of your Quicksilver to create the gland," he concluded.

"Ding, ding, ding. You win the kewpie doll."

"Does he also have precognitive dreams?"

Alyx nodded. "Oh what a tangled web," she muttered. "And it's all my fault."

Jarod stepped forward, setting a hand against her cheek. "No, it's mine."

She laughed, though it edged over into the range of hysterical. "Ah, yes, let's not forget that I now have no clue who I really am, that my family is and never was mine and-"

"No, they're still you're family, always will be." He watched her carefully. "You...  _we_  just have some new members is all."

She stepped away from him. "You had to go put a positive spin on this. You don't find this... disturbing at all?"

"Of course I do, but there is nothing I can do to change it... other than warn you about exactly how deep you're getting."

She nodded, not having the energy to argue right now.

"But how about we do it inside... before I have to remove your toes due to frostbite."

She smiled at him. "Frostbite is not an issue," she said as she turned and walked back inside. He glanced down and noticed her legs ended above her ankles. "Quicksilver is a thermal insulator."

Jarod laughed and followed her. They had a  _lot_  to talk about and all night to do so.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

"When were you going to inform me of this development?" the raspy voice of Mr. Raines caused Lyle's heart to skip a beat and adrenaline to flood his system.

"Once I had confirmed that they were indeed together. No point until then," Lyle explained, keeping his cool. His statement was true enough, there was little point in chasing after a maybe, and no one had confirmed her physical presence with Jarod.

Raines threw a file down on Lyle's desk, causing it to spill its contents across the polished surface. He reached out to pick up one of the photos frowning when he realized what it showed. A screencap of a video conference call, in the image were both Jarod and the girl. "Damn," Lyle muttered. "My people on the ground were unable to confirm they were together due to the weather that moved in."

"Perhaps you should have had your people take a more proactive role in the monitoring of her."

Lyle shook his head. "Too risky. We are not yet fully apprised of her psi abilities. I did not want to risk her becoming aware of our observation." He tipped his head eyes narrowing. "I seem to recall that is what the Triumvirate requested. Observe and record."

Raines wheezed his displeasure. "Their mandate does not include the two of them meeting face to face. This changes things."

Lyle tapped a finger on the desktop. With Mr. Parker gone, Raines had been placed in charge of the Tower, and while Lyle may not have liked it, he knew which side his bread was buttered on, and if he wanted to keep his head... literally, he'd have to toe the line. What Raines wanted, Raines got. "I'll make arrangements to have her brought in."

"Bring both of them in," Raines ordered. "Make certain she is undamaged."

"Of course. I'll have a team ready to leave within the hour."

"A team you will be leading. I expect you to personally see to it that she is secured for transport to The Centre."

Lyle swallowed hard, but nodded. "As you wish. Any specific instructions aside from undamaged?"

Raines wheezed out a laugh. "I would recommend using the strongest tranquillizers you can find. She is reportedly highly resistant to sedation."

Lyle nodded, not about to argue, especially since Raines was making it quite clear he had been keeping up to date on any and all information on the girl. "We'll be prepared."

Raines shook his head and turned away, the wheels of his oxygen tank squeaking on the smooth floor. "You better be, you have no idea what she is capable of."

Lyle sat still until the doors had shut, the sound of Raines departure having faded in the distance, then he picked up his phone, his nonexistent thumb aching as he dialed. It was looking to be a long night.

 

**Mountain High Resort**

**Northern Rockies, Montana**

 

Fawkes looked like utter shit. When the storm had worsened, knocking out power to more cabins, they had given up their borrowed sofas to a family from Kentucky and returned to their cabin where they'd built a roaring fire and camped out using the mattress from the sofa bed to rest on. The wood, food and coffee supplied by the resort staff more than enough to get them through the night.

Fawkes had tossed and turned all frickin' night, mumbling and muttering in his sleep, which of course meant Hobbes hadn't slept as well, wondering if everything was okay with his partner. He'd checked the monitor a couple times, but it remained the same with only one red segment, the toxin build-up minimal at best... supposedly. And that meant the new inhibitor was working like it should. Claire had tested it nine ways to Sunday before using it on Fawkes, made certain there were no conflicts with the old one or the Counteragent, but as he had been informed many times, simulations could tell them a lot, but live testing would always be the only definitive answer. But it would also be dangerous. Unexpected results possible at any moment. So he watched his partner, waiting for that other shoe to drop. Fawkes' brother had begun the research, Claire and Alyx had finished it months ago, but both had been very cautious before injecting Fawkes with it. In fact, Hobbes seemed to recall a discussion about trying it before the kid had left on that last job, with her asking the Keep to wait for her return, but she'd gone ahead and allowed Fawkes to decide and he had chosen to try it, hoping that he'd be granted just a few more minutes of freedom from insanity.

Hobbes, after his friend's deteriorating behavior the last several hours, had serious concerns that the inhibitor had not worked as intended. He stoked the fire, encouraging it to produce more heat. The night hadn't been too bad, but he would prefer not spending more than one like it. Plus, they still had a mission to complete. He could only hope Goodrowe hadn't taken his ire out on Hurst and his family when he was unable to complete his sale as scheduled.

He also hoped Alyx and Jarod had made it through the night all right. Last they'd heard Jarod had been injured, they had no idea how bad. He turned on his cell phone - he'd kept it off to conserve the battery as they had limited resources to recharge till power had been fully restored. As expected he still had no signal, which meant no messages missed. Which meant... he had no idea if they were okay.

Darien groaned and sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Mornin'," he mumbled as he spotted Hobbes beside him.

"You okay?"

"Not so much," Darien answered, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling towards the bathroom.

Hobbes went to the thermos of coffee the hotel had supplied and poured a cup, which he handed to Darien when he returned. Caffeine would be necessary before he'd be even vaguely amenable to a rational discussion.

"Thanks," Darien muttered around a mouthful. It was probably lukewarm by this time, but he clearly didn't care. He walked to the door and opened it, losing the little warmth that had been so carefully hoarded by Hobbes. "What time is it?"

"Early, just after eight. Storm's supposed to be letting up by noon," Hobbes told him, getting up to join him at the door. The snowfall was fluffy flakes now, not the wind driven pellets of the previous afternoon. "Lobby still has power and is providing food free for all the guests."

"Cool," Darien responded, sounding distracted. "Have we... have you heard from Alyx?"

"Not yet, but it's early and they were higher up in the mountains, the snowfall was probably heavier there." Hobbes had to admit the scene before them was quite beautiful, but he'd much prefer not being trapped in it. "She's fine, Darien. Cell connection died at our end, not hers."

"And that's supposed to make me feel more confident about the situation," Darien snarked, turning about and heading back towards the fireplace and the only source of warmth.

Hobbes shut the door and followed. "Fawkes, you live in the back of her head, can't you feel if she's all right?"

Darien sat cross-legged on the mattress, sipping at the coffee. "I... I hadn't thought of that. Gimme a minute and I'll give it a go."

Hobbes nodded and went back to tending the fire, tossing on a couple more logs to replace the heat that had gone out the door while they'd been standing there admiring the winter wonderland. He glanced over his shoulder to see Fawkes leaning back against the sofa, eyes closed, head tipped slightly to one side in a way that eerily reminding him of the kid. After a few minutes where the only sound was the crackling of the new flames, he smiled, stress that had been hunching his shoulders melting away like the snow on his feet.

"She's good. Cold, but good," Darien said, eyes coming open. "Snow's still coming down so they're stuck until it lets up."

"Smart girl," Hobbes said with a nod. "Better they stay in place than kill themselves trying to get back down the mountain."

"She agrees with you. Jarod took a bullet to the shoulder, which she removed, but is doing fine." Darien frowned a bit at that, but Hobbes had no idea why. "She'll try to call us at noon. If the lines are still down she'll..." He laughed softly, "She'll poke me in the head to make contact."

"Good plan. We'll turn our phones on at five of and off at five after if we haven't heard anything."

"They'll rendezvous with us here, hopefully by this evening," Darien said as he blinked back to full awareness. He rubbed his forehead. "Urf, headache."

"Well, you ain't exactly used to the long distance thing, guess it's to be expected." Hobbes set the poker aside. "You hungry?"

Darien nodded. "Think they'll have bacon and eggs?"

Hobbes grinned, his partner's appetite never failing no matter what the situation. "Here's hoping."

 

~^~^~^~^~

 

The trip down the mountain had not been fun in any way, shape or form. The so-called road had been buried, but with judicious use of her powers, Alyx had driven the Jeep down with comparatively little trouble. Jarod had been tempted to have her drive back to the Hurst's estate to check on the family, but she had nixed the idea citing the need to reconnect with her partners and... to be away from him for a while. Yes, they needed to do some recon to figure out how Goodrowe's plans had changed, but even he could tell she was in emotional overload, her entire reality twisted and distorted in the last twenty-four hours. She needed peace and, sadly, he knew she would not be getting any.

They pulled into the resort, much to the amazement of the staff given the fact that the roads in the area had not yet been plowed, and drove right on by, heading for their cabins. Power had been restored just after ten a.m. according to Fawkes, which meant they could shower and change without freezing vital parts of their anatomy off.

Jarod had left a pile of one hundred dollars bills for the owner of the cabin, as repayment for the use, which had made Alyx smile, as she had planned to do something similar. She had seemed oddly uneasy this morning, the few hours of sleep they had caught in the wee hours of the morning not as revitalizing as hoped for either of them. They'd both been plagued with dreams and come daylight neither had been willing to discuss them.

She'd parked in front of his cabin, insisting the walk to hers was just what she needed, so she'd grabbed her gear and done just that. Leaving him alone, wanting to ask a million questions she surely had no answers to. They'd talked for hours, but failed to resolve anything of value. She still suffered from a severe case of disbelief. Everything made sense, everything fell into place perfectly and explained so much about why she was so very different, but she still failed to comprehend the truth of it all. And she needed to. She needed to understand that once this job was done her life would never be the same and her best chance at survival would be to follow in his footsteps and run.

They met up at the conference room a couple hours later to plan their next move. Alyx started by grabbing a pen and piece of paper and proceeded to draw the Hurst house including all the power and security systems to share with the entire class. Jarod had to admit, if only to himself, he was impressed, there was little she had missed, and she'd never gotten closer than one hundred yards of the house. And that had only been one side of the house.

"So what's our next move?" Hobbes tossed out as he looked over the drawing. "They'll be on alert after your last visit."

Alyx nodded. "I know, and there's no point in moving on the family if Goodrowe is still on the loose." She crossed her arms over her chest and paced around the table. "I'll head to the warehouse and plant some real bugs so that we'll have a head's up for when they are moving the guns."

"The roads haven't been cleared yet," Hobbes pointed out.

"And?" Alyx said, clearly not bothered by the thought of rough driving and given her skill getting them down the mountain, she would have minimal trouble getting down to the outskirts of Eureka where the warehouse was located. "We've got the good gear in the SUV, I can be back in a few hours at most. We need real intel, and sitting outside on the street would be damn obvious right now."

"Not alone," Darien stated at a near-growl.

"Darien, I'm a big girl-"

"Not alone," Jarod stated flatly. "Darien has been inside already, he can show you the optimal locations to leave the bugs."

Darien looked startled at those words, as if he had expected Jarod to back Alyx, or perhaps volunteer to go with her. Jarod suspected there was jealousy involved, but now was not the time to explain the surprising and unexpected relationship between them.

"Wish we could do the same at the house," Hobbes stated, looking from one man to another with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Not a chance." Alyx set both hands on the table and leaned on them. "We'll just have to hope the weather delayed Goodrowe's plans, much as they did ours." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "We've got a couple hours of daylight left, we best make use of them."

Darien walked over to her and set a hand on her shoulder. "You sure about this?"

She smiled up at him. "It'll be like old times, bub."

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

She nodded. "Too long." She turned to Bobby. "How many of the good bugs do we have on hand?"

Hobbes thought for a moment. "Three. Think that'll give you the coverage you want?"

Alyx shrugged. "It'll have to," she said.

Jarod stayed in the background as they worked efficiently to verify the gear worked and then packed it to go. Less than thirty minutes later Fawkes and Alyx had left, heading for town. Once alone Hobbes turned to Jarod, taking his measure in detail for the first time since they'd met.

"So what happened?" Hobbes finally asked.

Jarod shrugged. "Goodrowe had patrols out further than we expected and they got behind us while we were checking the security. I got shot while we made our exit."

"And exactly  _how_  did you make your exit?" Hobbes pressed, plainly looking for some particular piece of information.

"If you are concerned that I will tell my superiors about your partner's... gifts, you needn't worry, I know when to keep my mouth shut."

Hobbes sighed and scrubbed his face with one hand. "How much did she give away?"

Jarod managed a dry chuckle. "Let's just say my computer worked the entire time."

"Typical," Hobbes grumbled with a shake of his head. "She's Top Secret, my friend, and our boss intends to keep her that way."

Jarod knew better than to argue. "And I have no intention of telling anyone. Now that said, she's in danger. There are people out there who  _will_  come after her."

Hobbes snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"We talked... a lot. I know there are several... agencies after her. I want to help."

Hobbes pondered the words for several minutes, his loyalties, both to her and his boss being tested, but it was obvious when he came to a decision. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me what you can about her husband and this agency he worked for."

 

~^~

 

Alyx pulled up a couple blocks down from the warehouse. They would be going in on foot as the SUV stood out on the almost empty streets. Most had not been plowed, but Alyx had made her own version, much like the one from that snow vacation they'd taken back in those first few months of their association. She'd left the engine running, not being a fan of the cold any more than he was, while she double-checked the gear. They hadn't talked much on the ride over, his mind stuck on the familiarity he'd witnessed between her and Jarod.

Granted when she'd staggered back into the cabin around two p.m. she'd walked straight to him and he had willingly wrapped his arms about her. Her need for him coming across loud and clear, and he'd been more than happy to accommodate her... until she refused to tell him why she felt so upset. He had, of course, chosen to assume the worst. That she and Jarod had... he pushed it aside, they had a job to do and lucky for her that meant the personal got shoved to the rear of the proverbial boat until it had been completed. There were times, this being one of them, when he hated that they had to put their personal life second to... to  _everything_  else. And that meant some days the personal came tenth or lower on the life list, which really sucked.

He got it. Really, he did, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He sighed and rubbed his hand, the tingling back through his palm and up toward his elbow. It didn't really hurt, just felt weird and didn't restrict his movement at all, which was good he supposed.

"You okay?" she asked meekly, as if she knew his mood wasn't the greatest at the moment.

"Fine and dandy," he told her. "Do we have a game plan?"

"Yep. You are lead. You know the location of the office and the guns, those will be the primary targets."

He blinked twice. She wanted him to lead? Since when? "Should probably grab the mike I left behind while we're here. Just in case. How many bugs do we have?"

"Three," she told him, reaching into the back for the case. "And they're set to work wirelessly, we'll be able to pick them up back at the resort once I set up the repeater."

Darien frowned, slightly. "How big is it?"

She held up the four by six by one device. "Needs direct power?"

"Yep. I'm thinking catwalk, splice into a power cable."

Darien nodded. "Yeah, that should work." He pondered for a few moments, going over what he had seen in there his last visit. "Can you use it to pick up the video they have installed?"

She grinned. "That I can." She tapped him on the nose. "Always the smarty-pants."

 

~^~

 

Alyx sat back with her stocking feet up on the coffee table, her laptop on her thighs, hacking her way into the wireless camera system at the Hurst warehouse. "I wish I'd thought to bring Destiny along," she groused mostly at herself.

"Kid?" Hobbes questioned. They'd decided to move all the data to their cabin, freeing up the conference room for the resort staff, who were using it for storage after some minor damage to a couple of the cabins. He actually preferred it, especially now that they had bugs set up, let them do their work in private without ords stumbling in on them. It did mean they had to make their own coffee, but with the kid along that wasn't much of a sacrifice.

"If I had it I could dial right into the Hurst's home system and have eyes in there."

"Destiny?" Jarod asked, plainly curious.

"Program the kid wrote that allows us to view or take over security and surveillance pretty much anywhere," Hobbes explained and Jarod looked suitably impressed.

"And you wrote that?" Jarod asked with a grin.

"But of course," she said with a nod. A few taps later and, "I'm in, we now have audio and video in the warehouse. Soon as Goodrowe makes an appearance, we'll know about it."

"And until then, how about a plan for when he does show up?" Darien suggested, coming out of the kitchen with a cup of cocoa in one hand and plate of food in the other. On the way back from the warehouse, they'd hit an open grocery store and grabbed some more food that could be easily cooked in the cabin's tiny kitchenette. The resort kitchen currently overtaxed due to the combination of weather and displaced employees and guests all eating for free. This week would probably be a loss for the resort on the books through no fault of their own.

"Well, it's not that difficult to figure out. We stop the guns and save the Hursts," Alyx said, shifting to set the laptop on the coffee table as Darien sat down beside her.

"Duh," he muttered. "Even I could figure out that much."

Hobbes nodded. "Timing is going to be the key."

"Exactly," Jarod agreed. "Hurst's family is supposed to be released once delivery has been confirmed."

"You know he's just going to kill them once he has what he wants, right?"

The kid just had to point out the obvious.

"He won't hold onto them for more shipments?" Darien suggested, and he wasn't wrong. Goodrowe could blackmail the man for years if he so chose, but Hobbes suspected the kid was right, he get his Navshots and then kill the entire family and only when the weapons failed to be delivered to the rightful owners would anyone become suspicious. Miner did good work to catch onto this scam early enough to make a real difference.

Miner shook his head. "Possible, but doubtful. Hurst isn't likely to get more product of this quality in the near future, especially once this shipment goes missing," he said echoing Hobbes own thoughts.

"Do we need to make certain Goodrowe thinks the product has been delivered and rescue the family before he has the chance to kill them?" Alyx asked an idea clearly percolating in her brain.

Jarod frowned, clearly pondering her question with a seriousness that impressed Hobbes. "What are you suggesting?"

"Do the opposite," Fawkes stated, obviously catching onto the kid's train of thought. "We stick with the two teams. One saves the family and once that's done the other stops the truck." He turned to meet Alyx's calm gaze. "If saving the family is top of the list, then screw the whole confirmation thing, just save them. Provided they are still on this side of the border, stopping them will be pretty simple."

One eyebrow rose on Jarod's forehead. "That… that makes more sense, especially given the delay in delivery." He gave Darien a nod, then turned to Alyx. "You certain you can get the contact info from Goodrowe?"

She nodded.

"What if Hurst is at the warehouse?" Hobbes asked, tossing in the one obvious thing that could screw up the simple plan.

"Which is more important: keeping the guns from falling into the wrong hands, or saving one man. A man, I might point out, would probably insist his family being saved first." Alyx pinched the bridge of her nose, not thrilled with having to sacrifice one, but she'd do it if necessary.

"We'll try to avoid that," Jarod insisted.

"Goodrowe will stay close to the family," Fawkes said with a surety that surprised Hobbes. "Based on his comments, he'll want his fun before he kills them."

Hobbes shuddered in disgust, especially with the memory of the man's words in his head. "I agree, Fawkes. So, who does what?"

"I believe the teams we broke into yesterday will work for this as well," Jarod stated.

Fawkes twitched and tried to cover it by shifting on the sofa.

Hobbes sighed softly. Fawkes wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "Yeah, that'll work. Fawkes and I will take the truck, you and the kid'll take the house."

When Fawkes glared at him he shrugged. "Fawkes, she'll be able to find the family. We just have to follow a truck."

"Or, better yet, be in the back of the truck," Alyx said, getting a nod of agreement from Jarod. "We can wire you with a GPS tracker so that Hobbes can follow at a distance."

"The border patrol is aware of the operation, so you won't have any issues once across," Jarod told them.

"How about we just track the truck and not risk one of us being found in a compromising position?" Fawkes countered with.

"Have to side with my partner on this one," Hobbes said. "Safer to just tag the truck."

"Alyx?" Jarod asked, plainly looking for her opinion.

"While I would like to have a human with the cargo, I have to agree that tagging the truck errs on the side of caution." She met the eyes of each man in turn, ending with Fawkes. "But we need to tag a case of weapons as well, just to be certain."

Hobbes grinned. "That's our girl, covering all the bases, plus the dugout."

"It won't leave us with any spares, so if this goes sideways..."

"We do what we do best, and fake it," Fawkes said. "If push comes to shove, which is more important, the guns or the family?"

Without hesitation Jarod answered, "The family. I can hunt down the guns after, if it becomes necessary. They will never reach their destination."

"And what is the destination?" Hobbes asked.

"Free Quebec Militia."

Fawkes guffawed, almost doing an impressive spit take with his hot chocolate. Alyx snickered turning to look at her partner. "Had a run in with them have you?"

Fawkes sobered instantly. "Yeah, first time we met," he said nodding at Hobbes.

Hobbes could see that the kid understood immediately. "They just about took our heads off at a bar in Mexico." He glanced over at Fawkes. "The start of a beautiful relationship."

That got the dour look to break. "All right, we have a plan, now, aside from the obvious waiting, what else do we do?"

"Well, unless you want to stake out the warehouse in person, which is kinda stupid, given what the kid rigged up there, I'd say rest, relax, and carb up, 'cause once we go, we may be going for a while." Hobbes crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall.

"I like that plan," Fawkes said around a mouthful of sandwich. He poked Alyx in the arm. "You need to nap, we can monitor the sitch."

"I will, promise," she told him, turning to rest her forehead against his arm. He kissed her on the top of the head, making her sigh softly.

Hobbes smiled slightly; glad to see the two of them back in their groove, even if he suspected it wouldn't last. Fawkes had been off the entire time they'd been here, but he couldn't point to anything specific, just this sense of wrongness to his moods and attitude. It could be nothing more than not being on their home turf, but Hobbes doubted it. Fawkes had learned to curb his jealousy where the kid was concerned months ago, the fact that the kid always came back to him, no matter how deep the cover on the job, seemed to make all the difference in the world. And yet, here he was turning green over Jarod, when it was clear to Hobbes that nothing was going on. "We'll work in shifts. I really don't expect them to move until the morning given the condition of roads as of yet."

Jarod nodded in agreement. "Main roads will take precedence, of course. If they work all night, and Goodrowe can get all of his pieces in place, he might be ready to go. I'll head back to my cabin, let me know when you want me to take my turn."

Alyx released Fawkes and strode over to Jarod. "Is there something you need to do?"

"Not in particular." He cocked his head, watching her with a hooded gaze.

"Then you are staying and I am cooking for all of us. We need at least one decent meal in us if we are going to do the Hursts any good." She looked about the room and after receiving no dissenting votes turned back to Jarod. "Think of it as a team-building experience if you want. We'll work better together if we get to know each other a bit more."

"And what are you gonna cook with the little we have?" Hobbes questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Who said anything about using the little we have here?" She pointed a finger at Fawkes. "You have first watch, I'm going to go persuade the hotel staff to let me raid their kitchen," she said with a smile.

Fawkes chuckled. "That's my girl." He grabbed the computer and set it on his knees. "I got this. Go," He waved, "work your magic."

She turned to Jarod. "So, you in?"

"If you'll let me help cook, then yes, I'm in."

She shrugged. "Maybe, depends on how well you take orders."

Jarod grinned. "Depends on who's giving them, I suppose."

Hobbes snorted while Fawkes rolled his eyes. "Steamroller, she is."

"Yep," Fawkes agreed. "Luckily, she's our steamroller." He leaned back slightly to look over at her. "Get moving, girl, I'm hungry."

She shook her head. "Moving, bub." She grabbed her shoes and coat and was out the door seconds later.

Jarod looked right at Fawkes. "I don't have to stay."

Fawkes shook his head. "She's right. And trust me when I say you don't want to miss her cooking."

Jarod nodded. "All right, I'll take second watch so she can get some sleep."

"Cool. Have a seat, man. We're gonna be here a while."

Jarod did so, taking over a chair by the fireplace. "Alyx has some impressive skills."

Hobbes laughed. "You have no idea, my friend. No idea."

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cover, Delaware**

 

"Miss Parker?"

"What Broots?" The words came out gruffer than she had intended, but that always seemed to be the case these days. Ever since her father had jumped out of that plane over the Atlantic. When Raines had taken charge a lot of things had changed at The Centre, and not for the better. Lucky for her she'd remained in control of the return of Jarod, but he'd successfully continued to elude her.

"Mr. Lyle has ordered a jet prepared," he answered with his usual stutter-like hesitation. Even after all these years, he was afraid of her. There were days she regretted that, but after all this time, she had no idea how else to behave. Besides, he didn't seem to hold it against her.

"And where, pray tell, is this jet going?" She requested, tone as cold as the pit that had formed in her stomach.

"Great Falls, Montana - the nearest large airport to... to..."

"To where we think Jarod is," she finished for him.

Broots nodded. "But I don't think he's after Jarod," he stated.

"He's going after the girl," Sydney informed them, as he entered the room, voice lowered to prevent anyone outside from overhearing.

"And how does he know about the girl?" Miss Parker demanded.

"I would assume one or more of our discussions were intercepted," Sydney answered. "So, what are we going to do?"

"What we're supposed to do - go after Jarod. The girl is none of our concern." She turned to Broots. "Arrange a flight, ASAP."

Broots nodded nervously. "Right away." He scuttled from the room, back hunched and virtual tail tucked between his legs.

Sydney sat down in one of the chairs. "If she is as valuable as I believe-"

"Then Lyle had better be damn good or she's going to slip through his fingers. It's not likely that Jarod won't help her."

"True," Sydney agreed. "I imagine the reverse is true as well, and I have the feeling she is the more dangerous of the two."

Miss Parker chuckled darkly. "Then I hope we're there to see the show."

 

~^~^~^~

 

" _What you risk reveals what you value." Man, ain't that the truth._

 

**Rocky Mountain High Resort**

**Northern Rockies, Montana**

 

Alyx arched her back and stretched her arms up over her head until she felt her spine shift back into place. She had taken over staring at the computer screen a little after two a.m., after a wonderful dinner and nap to recharge her batteries. The boys, all three of them, had volunteered to clean up and she had let them. Darien while he'd behaved, had been off all evening. Sideways glances and sly commentary had punctuated the dinner and the clean up. She'd made every effort to impress upon Darien that nothing was going on between her and Jarod, but he had remained suspicious and Alyx had not been ready to tell him the truth.

She settled back down, the laptop on her stomach, her legs up the side of a chair. She'd chosen the floor for her shift, lying on the thick rug in front of the fireplace that they had going to supplement the crappy heating system in the cabin. The early start to winter had been unexpected even by the locals and had caught everyone flat footed. The weather she could handle, the surprising revelation about her life had turned her entire universe on its ass. She wanted to tell Darien, desperately, wanted him to console and commiserate with her, hold her and tell her that this new information hadn't changed a thing. Yet, she deeply feared it would.

She could talk to Jarod, she supposed, but that would just irritate Darien yet more. Jarod might be her... brother and potential friend, but Darien would be the one she'd be going home with. And truthfully, Jarod, even after seven years living in the real world, was still amazingly naïve about it. Relationship advice would be about the last thing she would ask of him. Besides he was just as gobsmacked as herself over the news. She would most certainly be delving deeper into this Centre and exactly how this newest twist in her life had come to pass.

A person bundled up like an Eskimo walked across the upper left hand security screen on the laptop and she quickly zoomed in. She didn't recognize the face once the hood had come off, but he was followed by three others, one of whom turned out to be Goodrowe. She double-checked to make certain the audio was working and recording then closed her eyes to better focus. * _Jarod?_ *

There were several seconds of silence, the random images and emotions, clearly those of a sleeping mind, flickered through her own then a groggy, * _Yes?*_

_*Goodrowe has arrived at the warehouse.*_ He felt exhausted and upset, which worried her, though she could not discern exactly why. * _You can sleep till I know more, if you wish.*_  She offered, not wanting to add to his troubles.

_*No. I will be there in a few minutes. Fawkes and Hobbes?*_

_*In need of their beauty rest. This is your baby, you get to call the shots,*_ she told him, meaning the words.

She could feel him smile over the intervening distance.  _*Good enough,*_  he responded then broke the connection at his end, which impressed her mightily given he'd learned how to communicate mind-to-mind just over twenty-four hours ago. Fast study, to put it mildly. She grabbed her headphones and put them on, plugging them into the machine so she could better hear what was being said. Initially, most of it was bitching and moaning about being put behind schedule due to the weather along with some buried threats – against whom she couldn't be certain – apparently coming from those to whom they were transporting the weapons. From the sound of things, those in the Free Quebec Militia were a tad impatient to receive their arms, which suggested there was a specific purpose for which they were going to be used. Sadly, no one seemed to intend to go into the semi-traditional bad guy monologue, so she remained in the dark as to the whys, but the urgency to move the product was obvious.

Alyx felt Jarod's arrival at the door to the cabin and swung it open before he had a chance to knock. She could feel his bafflement at the empty doorway, but he figured it out quickly and, after shedding his winter clothes, sat down next to her on the floor with a wry grin brightening his features. She unplugged the headphones and cranked the volume, wishing she'd thought to bring speakers. She shifted the laptop so Jarod could see the screen. "He seems to be under some pressure to make the delivery ASAP, but there's been no mention of a time or place yet.

"We know it has to get across the border. The main road, with a full border checkpoint is on 93, but there's dozens of back roads that could be used."

"Plus old forestry roads, like the one we used to get to the Hurst estate."

He nodded in agreement. "We're going to need eyes on them, and warm bodies within easy reach. We can't depend on the Mounties to be able to get to the location in time, especially if it's in virtual wilderness."

"Well, if we can get a tracker on the delivery vehicle, eyes I can do… provided the weather remains clear," she told him feeling only a touch smug.

"You've arranged to retask a satellite for our use? For this mission that no one but me gave a damn about?" He sounded disbelieving, justifiably she had to admit.

"Not like I've gone through channels for this, but yes, I can get us eyes in the sky if you want them."

He laughed, eyes lighting up with amusement. "We are so alike," he finally said and it came across as a compliment.

She poked him in the thigh. "There's a reason for that." She thought for a moment, feeling her brow knit.

"What?" he asked.

"Can you train me? To do this Pretender thing?"

He actually went pale at those words. "Why would you want that?"

She hadn't meant to upset him, but she'd just had one of those epiphanies that her mind had become notorious for. "I… I think it might help with my persona problems. Make it easier for me to play those parts work requires and when it's over come back to  _me_."

He didn't dismiss her suggestion out of hand, which could mean her idea had some merit. He sighed softly. "I want to tell you that you have no idea what you are asking, but I know that you do. I'm actually surprised that the deep personality programming they used even worked… it must be due to your psychic abilities. Maybe they coded it directly into your neurons…" He trailed off and even Alyx, who had known him only two days, could tell he had come to some conclusion.

"Unless I'm a bad copy," she suggested, making him snort in derision.

"Not hardly. If anything you are a decided improvement on the original," he told her straight-faced. "I think I might be able to help, but I'll need data."

Alyx nodded. "I'll get you everything I can. Heilberg's techniques are notorious for crashing and burning; I'm one of the few to survive with an intact personality… mostly. I have my bad days, but mostly I'm me."

"Fawkes keeps you steady," he said, far too observant for his own good.

She wouldn't deny it; there was no point in doing so. "Yes. His… how he sees me…  _that_  is what I hold onto."

"But his perspective is just as biased as everyone else's. Even myself. You can't just be you?"

An honest question and deserving of an honest answer, she simply had no idea how to do so. "You make it seem so simple."

"It should be, but I do understand. I was no more than a tool for many years, only Sydney's encouragement allowed me to acquire a personality of my own."

"And yet you are still looking for who you are?" Alyx felt this, and suddenly understood why he sometimes came across as a lost little boy to her senses. He'd been taken at such a young age that he'd had no real time to develop his own distinct personality, he still saw himself through his family, a family he'd been disconnected with for a fair thirty-five years.

"And you look for who you were… or perhaps who you want to be. Both of us displaced and out of step with the rest of the world."

Jarod understood, more than even Darien did, who still had not entirely adapted to his new existence as the invisible man. He wanted to be a thief, in his heart still was a thief, and still felt the need to buck authority at every step, but, as she had learned and not yet revealed to him, he'd followed in his father's footsteps even better than he had known. While not a spy, they had learned that Mason Fawkes had become one of the best assassins the US government had, and had been performing that job as recently as a year ago, give or take. She had yet to tell Darien the truth… neither had Hobbes, who had agreed with her that it would probably do more harm than good and tip the axis of his world just a touch too far. No, they had decided to grant him what little peace they could where it came to dear old dad. Hell, he was still pissed that Kevin had been wiped away before figuring out a removal technique even with Alyx's solution as a viable option when he chose to use it.

Darien had few illusions about his sibling and he would always be nothing more than the big brother that always disapproved of him and his life choices. Nothing Alyx could say would change that.

"Maybe that's the flaw in the Pretender design," he mused aloud, "to never know who you really are."

Alyx shrugged. "Would make sense, not as a flaw though. If the intent is to  _be_  anyone, you have to begin with someone who is no one. No real sense of self."

"And yet, that is part of the human condition, a sense of self."

"Thus, as you said, a flaw in the design." Not the most uplifting discussion to have, but one they would need to review in detail, but later, once they had completed this job and could take some actual time to get to know one another. "We'll set aside time to deal with… all of this, later," she assured him, meaning every word. They had volumes of information to exchange, and they needed to do so in order to protect themselves… and each other.

He sighed softly. "We may not. I can guarantee that as soon as the weather clears Miss Parker will be on her way to harangue me."

Alyx laughed at the mix of amusement and dismay in his voice. "You could, you know, cut off contact and stop leaving them breadcrumbs to follow."

He smiled and it was heart-wrenchingly sad. "It's the way things are: I run, she chases."

"Ah, a game of cat and mouse, without each other neither of you would have purpose." An observation she couldn't help making.

Jarod twitched, clearly surprised she'd figured it out so fast. "That too," he agreed. "The Centre used what I gave them to do some very horrible things and… and I'm still trying to correct the damage that was done."

"Penance that is not yours to make," she told him, then reached out to squeeze his hand. "I understand. Let me know how I can help."

Behind them came an unexpected voice. "How come I got no invite to this party?"

Alyx turned about to see Darien there, rubbing the back of his head and yawning. She was certain they had not been loud enough to wake him, so there had to be another cause for him to have arisen from his slumber. His eyes narrowed as he noticed her and Jarod holding hands, but Alyx refused to remove her hand, as that would just make her look more guilty in his eyes. "No need for you boys yet. Goodrowe has yet to reveal his evil plot and until he does, we have nothing to do." She gave him the once-over mentally, but found herself blocked completely.  _He_  was keeping her out, which meant… she had no idea what that meant exactly, but it did worry her a bit. "You okay, bub?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just some freakin' weird dreams."

"You are more than welcome to 'join the party'," Jarod said, releasing Alyx's hand with a pat and getting to his feet. "Though, as Alyx said, there's not much going on as yet."

Darien nodded, shuffling off to the kitchen. "Coffee?" he offered. "And what time is it?"

"Yes, please, and a little after five a.m.," Alyx answered, one eye on the monitor as the activity picked up. "Damn, we should have planted the one GPS already, we may not get the chance to now."

Jarod shook his head. "They will most likely double-check the contents of the crates before they load them, it could have been discovered."

"Crap," Darien muttered. "I know they won't find the bugs, but I never grabbed that mike from the first walk-through, they'd rearranged the crates. It's buried in the packing foam, but…" he trailed off with a head shake. "Nothing we can do about it now, I s'pose."

"Nope," Alyx agreed. "But given the discussions I'm overhearing, they may not care even if they do find it, their buyer wants the product like now, and Goodrowe actually sounds worried."

"He's scared of the buyer," Jarod stated. "Not the militia in general, but the specific buyer." He paced a few steps. "Perhaps we should look further into this."

Alyx tipped her head, allowing Jarod's emotions to simply wash across her without delving deeper. "We can, but if saving the family is the focus, waiting till after that has been completed might be prudent." Jarod turned to meet her eyes. She understood his need to cover all the bases and make certain this situation never came up again, but there were serious limits on what the four of them could do. "You can sic your buddies at the ATF on them. I think once we have Goodrowe in custody they'll take this  _minor_  situation a bit more seriously."

His serious look lightened at that. "Good plan. I'll make certain they have full details of this… incident. Though it would be nice if we could gain the name of the buyer to add to the report."

"Once we have Goodrowe I will endeavor to do so." She turned to watch Darien. "I don't see him being much of a challenge when it comes to interrogation."

Darien snorted. "Not with you at the helm. A'course we have to catch him first," he pointed out a touch ruefully.

"I believe that will be fairly simple. I suspect he'll be with the Hursts while the delivery is taking place. Rescue the family and take him into custody all at the same time," Jarod said as he leaned against the doorway to the galley kitchen, splitting his attention between the two of them.

Darien nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's gonna want to celebrate as soon as he can, which means being near the family." He glanced over his shoulder at Jarod. "You will get the kids out first." It wasn't a question or suggestion, but a barely polite order.

Jarod frowned slightly, but it wasn't at Darien's tone, it was more the suggestion that he'd allow any harm to come to the children. "He won't touch them."

Darien nodded tightly, not appearing very assured, but not prepared to argue the point either. "Make certain of it."

"We will, Darien, I promise," Alyx said, hoping it would reassure him and got a tight nod in response. She sighed softly, getting that he was upset, but not having any clue why. Stupid, jealous bear of a boyfriend. Lucky for him he didn't let this side of him out to play too often, usually just when… Her musings trailed off as realization settled in. These days he only got jealous when hitting Stage Two or higher, not when the toxin build-up had yet to affect his judgment. "Bub, how much time do you have?"

He didn't question why she was asking in front of company, just glanced at his wrist. "Same as before, one red. Gonna need me to sneak in and plant the GPS, huh?"

Jarod didn't even raise an eyebrow, more than smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. She may have told him about the gland and the less than fun side effects, but she had yet to tell the boys that he was in the know.

"Well, I'm good, but even I can't be in two places at once, especially ones miles apart," she observed drily, earning a real chuckle from Darien, which eased her concerns somewhat. He rarely surfaced from morose unhappiness when under the influence of the madness, so her conclusion might very well be way off base. She could but hope.

She could smell the coffee as the machine performed it's magic. It would probably be the first pot of many, given the lack of sleep most of them had had. An argument broke out on the monitor and she zoomed to the particular security camera and upped the volume. Looked like there could be trouble in paradise and that Hurst's presence would be required to correct the problem. This could give them their in. "Time to wake Hobbes," she told them and with a sigh, Darien shuffled off to do so.

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

Darien sat in the passenger seat of the SUV in the early morning sunlight, waiting. Nearby, the truck that was going to be transporting the Navshots was being loaded. Patience was still not one of those virtues that Darien paid a whole lot of attention to. At least when not planning a job, anyway. He wanted to get this damn thing over with and go home. Part one had been accomplished long before the sun had broken over the horizon and blinded them; the layer of ice and snow doubling and trebling the amount of light that would normally be provided. Had to admit, if grudgingly, that it looked damned pretty, but it was also cold. With the cloud cover gone, that arctic air had drifted in and taken hold. Walking on the snow had been anything but silent, but he'd managed and gotten the GPS on the truck with little trouble… and apparently no appreciable Quicksilver use, he still had only a single red segment, which shouldn't have been possible.

 

He rubbed his wrist, around the snake and then across the seemingly empty center where the microchip that controlled the whole shebang resided. For an instant he thought he saw a fair half the segments blink to red, but it happened so fast he blamed it on the tiny spots that his eyes retained for long minutes after staring out the window for any reasonable length of time.

Now all they had to do was wait.

Wait for the truck to be loaded, sneak into the back with or without Quicksilver and plant that second GPS into one of the crates, just in case they lost the truck completely. As it was, given the lack of vehicles on the road today, they would have to hang back, way back, in order to keep from being spotted as a tail. They were hoping that Goodrowe intended for them to take the main highway, especially given the bills of lading he'd had Hurst fill out to legitimize the whole thing, but it remained possible they'd be taking a less direct and more sneaky route across the border. A quick Google search revealed dozens of back roads that led straight to the Canadian border, and Goodrowe could use any one of them. All had some sort of border crossing, but those smaller ones would be far less heavily manned. Which would make it easier for those dummied up transfer papers to pass muster.

He wished they would hurry up and get the weapons loaded, because that would mean he would have something else to do, instead of wearing thin the path in his mind that involved that one scene that had been burned into it: Alyx holding Jarod's hand and acting as if it were nothing. She hadn't even tried to hide it… or explain it. Yeah, maybe she was putting the moves on him to draw him in and… Even he couldn't justify that train of thought. No, it made more sense that their night at the cabin had been a lot more up close and personal than she had let on, her actions after to the contrary. Though banging the new guy, truthfully, would not end her need for him, that mental connection still the one she relied upon to maintain her sense of self. Fuck, that would suck, needing him to remain whole, but in…  _with_  someone else.

He wouldn't allow that, couldn't allow that, it would hurt too damn much to try and maintain a partnership with her without the more personal relationship. He'd tried that once, and had not enjoyed the experience much at all. So, if this was how it would be, he would fight for her every step of the way. She would  _not_  walk out on him.

"Looks like they're finishing up, Fawkes," Bobby said as he watched through the binoculars. "You up for this?"

"I'm fine. I don't like splitting up, that's all," Darien commented, only some of his ire heard in his voice. Hobbes gave him a quick once-over.

"We already have the one GPS in place, we don't gotta have this second one."

"And if they offload the guns to a second truck?" he questioned as he double-checked the earpiece to make certain it wouldn't slip once he started moving.

Hobbes huffed. "Gotta play devil's advocate, don't ya? All right, but no risky moves. If you can get it in a crate, yay for our team, otherwise don't push your luck."

"Yes, boss," Darien snarked as he opened the door and slipped out into the chilly morning air.

"Keep in contact," Hobbes reminded leaning across the seat to look up at his partner.

Darien set a hand on the roof and snapped, "I do know what I'm doing, you know." He slammed the door shut and stormed off, Quicksilvering within a few steps of the SUV. He knew that had been a bad move on his part, but he'd been doing this more than long enough to handle slipping the GPS into… hell, onto a crate without being babied.

Darien flexed his hands, keeping them loose for the work to come, the gloves he wore thin, but insulating, to allow dexterous movement – a gift from Alyx, as the nights in SoCal could get chilly in the winter and she wanted him to be able to have his fun without his hands stiffening up with the cold. And that brought him back around to the problem he really shouldn't be thinking about if he were to get this job done correctly. Why would she do simple, kind things like buy him damn expensive thieving gloves if she didn't care? Granted, caring about him did not mean she wanted to be with him on a personal level.

He shook his head, trying to bring the real world back into focus. The last of the crates were being brought out and he sidled up to the side of the truck, thankful they had plowed the parking lot down to the asphalt, which meant he wasn't leaving any prints to be spotted. Though the looks on their faces would be priceless and probably worth the price of admission.

He pulled the GPS out of his pocket, making certain it was covered in Quicksilver, flipped the switch he knew armed it and prepared to slip it into a crate as it was carried by. Not as easy as it sounds when you can't see your hand or the object as anything other than an orangey glow, never mind the Quicksilver vision thing being washed out and decidedly compromised by the amount of sunlight glinting off the snow. That was new, and though he'd been Quicksilvered in the snow before, it most certainly hadn't been sunny. In fact, it had been one hell of a snowstorm that had damn near left them trapped in the wilderness.

Luck, then as now, was with him as one of the guys holding the crate slipped on a patch of ice, dropping his end hard enough to shift the lid, giving Darien a gap – both in time and physical – to throw the GPS at. The orangey blob hit dead center and he backed away satisfied, while the poor schlub got yelled at for putting the weaponry at risk of damage.

Darien backed away, in order to not be overheard, though based on the shouting match, he could play a marching band through here and they wouldn't notice. "The package has been delivered," he said softly into the comm.

" _Heard. Checking to verify it is active_ ," Hobbes responded, followed by the tapping of keys.  _"Five by five, Fawkes, everything looks good at this end."_

"Does that mean we can blow this pop stand?"

" _Soon as you confirm the number of mooks on the truck, we can,"_  Hobbes reminded, which made Darien want to facepalm as he had damn near forgotten that part.

"Right, I'll just do that." He backed away, moving over towards the cars belonging to those who had come to do the dirty work, and hunkered down. He hoped this wouldn't take too long, since he really had no idea when the new inhibitor would crap out leaving him cranky and red-eyed. "Hobbes, any chance you brought Counteragent along?"

Vociferous swearing was the initial response.  _"Shit, Fawkes, no. Didn't even cross my mind. Why? You red-lining it already?"_

Good to know his partner assumed the worst. Then again, given how his worst was, it did make sense. "Not that I am aware, just covering the bases."

" _Which the rest of us forgot to do. Can you drop it for now or is your position too exposed?"_

Just then a guy bundled up to the nines came around the end of the vehicle he had hidden behind. The guy was muttering under his breath, but made a beeline for the door and hurriedly climbed in.

" _I'll take that as a no,"_ Hobbes said in his ear.  _"Watch yourself, they can still walk into you."_

_No, shit._ Darien thought, wanting to say it aloud, but not willing to risk being caught just yet. The pickup he was next to started, so he stood and backed away, his focus switching to the semi truck. Two got in the cab and the third, carrying very obvious weaponry, climbed in the back.

The engine started and it rumbled and shuddered away, the tires slipping a bit on the icy surface. Three in the truck, not too bad. Then two other vehicles, including the pickup he'd been using as cover, pulled in behind it. The second vehicle an SUV of the over-compensation type. He waited until all three had driven off before looking about to verify everyone had cleared out. Not a car remained to be seen, so he allowed the Quicksilver to flake away. "Houston we may have a problem." He walked backed towards his ride without any hurry; they needed to let the truck get ahead of them on the road.

_"What now, Fawkes?"_  Bobby was apparently prepared to hear the worst; that Darien had chosen now to go off the deep end.

"Looks like they decided to send an escort. At least two follow vehicles," Darien informed him. "With at least one person in each. Didn't get a good look."

" _Saw them."_  There were several seconds of silence then,  _"We stick to the plan for now. Ain't nothing else we can do."_

Darien slipped back through the fence that they'd been using for the last three days to gain access to the warehouse, their rental SUV parked in the empty strip mall across the street. He opened the door and climbed inside, glad to be back in the relative warmth of the vehicle. "You got them on the grid?"

Hobbes pointed at the monitor showing the two blinking dots, one red, one blue to differentiate between the two trackers, practically on top of one another making their way through the various streets of Eureka headed towards the main highway from the looks of it. "You good?"

Darien did the mandatory check of his wrist, pulling the jacket sleeve back to reveal the nine green and one red serpent coiled on his wrist. "That can't be right, can it?" He turned to Bobby, actual concern surely visible on his face. This was just too good to be true, no way in hell the toxin inhibitor would be good for… he roughed out the amount of time he'd spent invisible the last few days in his head and came up with a solid hour give or take five minutes.

"Dunno, did the Keep give you an estimate of how much see-through time you'd gain?"

Darien shook his head. "No, just 'more'."

Hobbes handed over the laptop and started the engine. "Call the kid, she'll have the numbers in her head."

Darien growled softly, not really wanting to talk to her right now.

"We need to let them know the package is en route anyway," Hobbes pointed out, making Darien sigh in frustration.

Glaring at Hobbes who wasn't paying the least bit of attention as he pulled out onto the street and merged with the minimal traffic. He waited impatiently for her to pick up at her end.

" _S'up, bub,"_  she said in a cheery tone.

"The ball is in play," he told her, wondering why he was bothering with the code phrases, the likelihood that someone was overhearing their phone call was pretty much nil in this backwater town. "The truck and one crate are tagged with GPS, however, they have two followers."

" _Urf, hold on let me put you on speaker."_

Darien did the same, knowing this would go miles faster if he didn't have to repeat everything for Hobbes.

" _You have them on the GPS?"_  Jarod asked.

"Yep, looks like they are taking 93 for now," Hobbes answered. "We won't know till we have them in sight if the escort stayed with them."

" _Verify the escort and fake it from there,"_ Alyx suggested, causing Jarod to chuckle softly.  _"We're moving into position, should be ready within thirty minutes."_

That number reminded Darien of the other reason for this call. "Segue here, off speaker, please." Yeah, he'd be polite for the time being. No reason to let Jarod know he wanted to pound in his skull for making time with his woman.

" _Okay, it's just me."_

"Do you know how much extra time the new inhibitor was supposed to give me?"

There was silence so long he honestly thought the call had been dropped.  _"Max of an hour. And that would have you red-lining it."_  She paused, as if gathering her thoughts.  _"Everything all right?"_  The concern was audible.

"Kid, he estimates he's used a hour, minimum, but he only has a single red segment, and no obvious symptoms," Hobbes told her, probably to keep Darien from prevaricating.

" _That's not right."_

"No shit," Darien muttered. "Any chance the inhibitor worked better than hoped?"

" _Honestly, yes, but not with so few segments turning. Assume the monitor is screwy and don't trust it. Did you bring the test kit or Counteragent?"_  she asked hopefully.

Hobbes sighed heavily. "No, kid, we kinda fucked up on that one."

She laughed lightly, clearly trying to keep them from worrying.  _"All right, no more… you know unless absolutely necessary, and I mean life or death sitch here. Dare, you know better than the rest of us if you're about to… run into problems. Trust yourself. Bobby, if trouble comes, abandon the truck and head back to the resort. We have the GPS info and can follow up later if necessary."_

"Kid, I really don't want to have to do that… but you're right. If Fawkes blows his top he's not going to be of much use out here anyway."

"Hey," Darien argued, even though he knew they were right.

" _Sorry, Dare,"_  she said sounding contrite.  _"I'd cancel this party and come meet you to deal with this, but…"_

That god damned but. "I know. I can keep it together and handle my end of things." He swallowed hard, not wanting to admit aloud that he wanted to be first in her life forever and always. "You rescue that family."

" _Will do. I'll text when we're in position."_

"Good enough, kid. Good hunting."

" _Same to you, Bobby."_

And on those words the call ended.

"This sucks," Darien muttered as he tucked the phone back into his pocket.

"What does?" Hobbes asked as he pulled onto the exit for the highway. "We still on the right track, kimosabe?"

"Yeah, we are. Wonder if they're gonna be dumb enough to follow the main road the entire way?" Yes, he had failed to answer the real question Hobbes had asked, not certain his partner, who had no real sympathy for their relationship plight, would react well to him stating that he hated that the work always had to come first, that because of what they were they rarely had time to be who they wanted to  _be_. No, his partner would probably just give him a big dose of 'I told you so' and then refocus back on the job. Adding to the same damn problem.

"Here's hoping, this baby is tricked out, but not exactly designed for off-roading. 'Fish ain't gonna want to pay for the damages if we run it into a ditch."

Darien groaned. "Jeez, Hobbes, not like he's paying for the ride in the first place, Alyx got us the upgrade. 'Fish had us in a subcompact and driving in from Missoula. You didn't pay any attention to her bitching when she saw the travel plans, did you?"

Hobbes tore his eyes away from the road for an instant, a look of real surprise on his face. "You have got to be kidding me? I knew the boss was a skinflint, but seriously." He reached out and adjusted the heat, turning the blower down a bit, which Darien had to agree with, as it was quite toasty in here now, enough that he wanted to shed his coat. Decision made, he did so, squirming as carefully as possible with the computer balanced precariously on his thighs and the seatbelt across his chest. Hobbes chuckled. "You all comfy now?"

Darien shrugged. "Could use a beer and a cheeseburger, but not bad."

Hobbes grinned. "Never will change. Maybe on the ride back if all goes well."

"Works," Darien agreed, turning his focus back to the red and blue dots moving down the highway several miles in front of them.

 

~^~^~^~

 

"Problem?" Jarod asked, watching her carefully. He could read her pretty well by now, and after several days of exposure could feel her in the back of his head. She was concerned, but bottling it up for the moment.

"Maybe?" She cast a glance over at him, the road rugged enough that she dare not let her eyes off of it for very long. "Sorry about the obfuscation, but—" A surprise rut forced her full attention back on the driving at hand.

"They don't know that I know," he summed up.

"Nope. D is seriously Top Secret and I didn't think it was an appropriate time to get into the whys of it all."

"So instead you allow Darien to think we slept together."

She muttered under her breath for several minutes, and in several different languages, which he found most amusing. "You got that vibe too? Crap, crap and double crap. Though, truth be told, we did sleep together, there just wasn't any sex involved."

"I don't think he'd see the distinction," Jarod pointed out.

"See, that's not Dare. Mr. Id, yes, but not Darien. The madness toxin affects his judgment and reasoning skills. He's no less intelligent, but his paranoia and suspicion soars through the roof. He'll presume the worst and be unable to see any other truths."

"And that could be problematic."

"Yes. Though we'll probably be fine until we're all back together. Bobby'll be able to keep him focused on the job… for a while. When he sees me… all bets are off."

"And that's bad for you."

"That it is." She sighed softly. "Least he'll go after me rather than you. When he's gone red-eye he's extremely dangerous and very difficult to stop. The toxin gives him reactions like someone on a high dose of PCP. Feels no pain, stronger than normal. Combine that with the adrenal response for the gland…"

"And he's just about unstoppable," Jarod finished. "Have tranqs?"

She ducked her head guiltily. "Yes, actually. Well, pain meds pre-loaded into syringes. I always bring some along. Granted, they're for me more than him, but a half dose will work on him just fine."

Jarod shifted in his seat to all but face her given the seatbelt he was forced to wear. Oh, the Jeep was old enough it wouldn't set off an alarm, but the back road they had chosen to use had been poorly maintained for more than a few years, leaving it rutted and potholed, add to that the layer of snow and surprises abounded about every turn. "You dose yourself with pain meds? Why?"

She thought about that, almost certain it had come up the night they'd been snowed in, and while she recalled mentioning she could overuse her ability, had failed to mentioned the results of said overuse. "I know I mentioned I can't filter out everything."

He nodded. "A constant background noise."

"Well, I can also push too hard. Try to do too much and the result is pain. If I push it way too far I get nosebleeds and tend to pass out."

"Faint."

"Do I come across as so daintily feminine as to do something so tacky as  _faint_?"She questioned with a feigned snort of disdain to accompany it.

He laughed. "No, of course not. You pass out just like us more manly types."

"Damn straight." She manhandled the jeep over what felt like a downed tree buried under the snow, using her mind to prevent the underside from being torn to shreds. "Crap. This road sucks."

"Yes it does. Sorry, but it was the only alternative to get to the estate without being seen." He really sounded apologetic, clearly wishing there had been another option aside from the main road and long, security riddled driveway, and the back route they had used and been caught on once before. "What is your upper limit?" he asked, not about to let the real discussion be derailed by the needs of the moment, and given both of them could easily compartmentalize and multi-task it became a far from impossible challenge.

"Wish we knew," she told him. "Tests seem to suggest I have unlimited potential, but in reality I definitely have limits, but it'll vary depending on what I am doing. Trying to identify one mind out of thousands in a small area will put me out pretty damn quick, all those voices in my head bloody well  _hurt_. Lifting stuff, well I've never really pushed myself with that, flipped cars and the like, but never really had any aftereffects. Transferring energy is pretty easy and since it's a, for lack of a better term, natural part of my body…" She shrugged. "Not like I've tried to channel the energy coming out of a nuclear reactor or something. Generated lighting plenty of times."

She glanced over at him to see his look of amazement, which made her smile. Even Darien had begun taking her skills for granted, which had its good points as it meant he accepted them along with her, but at the same time she missed seeing that look of wonder when she pulled off a friggin' miracle using only her mind. "It's not that impressive," she assured him.

He snorted. "Yes, it is. And on top of all that you can… commune with computers."

She shrugged. "They're just man made brains, all electronics are, computers just have the capacity to be… smart, logical. Add in the web, and I have an entire playground for my mind to wander in."

"Or get lost in," he pointed out.

"Ah, and you have spotted the hazard few others are aware of." She had never actually gotten trapped in the web, always snapping back to herself when the connection has been unexpectedly cut, but the potential remained. One day her mind might go in and never come out.

"What if your body were to die while your mind was within a computer system?" he asked, tone soft and concerned.

_Good frickin' question._  "Not a clue, and I have no intention of finding out in the near future." The road came to an abrupt end, several trees having gone down recently, perhaps in the storm, and had thoroughly blocked the way. "So, do I move the trees and hope we can drive further, or should we just hike in from here?"

He opened the laptop, his as the boys had taken hers, and fired up the GPS to see where they were in relation to where they needed to be. "We're not far, actually. The road circles around behind the estate, but if we cut across here," he used his finger to trace the approximate route, "we'll actually be shortening our hike time."

"Then here it is. Let me just turn the jeep around for the proverbial quick get away and we'll gear up and go."

It only took a few minutes for them to get ready, and then they strode boldly into the woods, a handheld GPS keeping them on the right track. The snow made it difficult for her even with Jarod to break trail. They each carried a small pack of supplies, and their preferred weaponry and not much else. While any arrests would be legitimate, they could not be done until after the family had been safely spirited away. Sneaking in would be tricky, but doable once she had ascertained the location of everyone in the house. She was going to be in pain by the time this was over, but it would be more than worth it. She just hoped she would have enough energy to deal with Darien afterwards. She'd taken the time to mentally check on him, but he had still been blocking her, which meant she knew nothing, and worse, had lost that needed connection to keep her personality balanced.

She probed ahead, not wanting any human surprises this time.

"We good?"

"So far. How close are we?"

"Coming up on the extreme perimeter now," he told her after glancing at the device in his hand. He waved off to their right, adjusting their course. "Can you see the house?"

She concentrated, opening her shields to allow her to sense all that she could to nearly her full range. The house was still a couple hundred yards off, but she could feel a current far closer, a mere dozen yards in front of them. She focused on it for a moment, low voltage, low amperage and underground. It took only a few moments for her to figure out what it meant. "Crap," she muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Invisible fence for dogs, I have the feeling it's not for a Bichon named Muffy."

"I have the feeling you are correct, but we haven't much choice. If they come after us, can you deal with them quietly?"

She sighed, not really wanting to hurt an animal, but not really wanting to be mauled either. "Yeah, though if they're used to the fence, they might be resistant to one of my zaps." Then again, there might be another option. It wouldn't be the first time she'd crawled into the mind of an animal, and trained dogs would have a more organized mind than your average pet mutt. It wasn't something she'd practiced and she probably risked frying their synapses, but worth a shot, especially if it left them alive and unwilling to impede their progress.

She pulled out her phone and texted Darien that they were in position. They hunkered down waiting for the response.

' _Truck on secondary road, two escort vehicles. Will stop once family is clear.'_

' _Roger.'_  She sent back then looked at Jarod. "How's the arm?"

"More than usable. Though I'd prefer not being shot again, it hurts," he said lightly, making her smile.

She headed towards the buried line, crouching down just before crossing it to get a better idea of who was where. They needed to be able to move swiftly and silently, preferably without setting off any alarms or alerts. Much to her amazement, there seemed to be fewer people here than last time and the security on a less vigilant setting. Goodrowe apparently confident that all would go according to his plan, their discovery the other day, probably waved off as lost hikers, or kids screwing around on the back roads. The guy who had shot at them, had not gotten a good look, mainly due to the heavy clothing they'd been bundled up in. "Want to see?"

"Sure. How?" Jarod sucked in a shocked breath as she removed her glove, set her fingertips on his bare temple, and transferred her ability over to him. "Wow," he mumbled, his eyes roving over the estate laid out before them, the house barely within line of sight, but lit up like a Christmas tree to her ability to see energy. That astonished surprise always seemed to be the first reaction of those she shared her inner sight with. "This is how you see the world?"

"No, I can turn this on and off, just so happens to be quite useful here and now." Opening her shields a touch more all the nearby minds rushed in, she slid through them, ignoring those of no interest to her and narrowing her field until she was reasonably certain of the location of all the Hursts – sadly Mr. was not with the rest of his family – and Goodrowe, who had Mr. Hurst near to hand. He seemed to be on a phone or radio with someone – she suspected one of the escort vehicles – which meant he had constant updates on their whereabouts. It also meant that if he went silent they would suspect something had gone wrong at this end, and might very well have a plan in place for that very contingency. Not that there was anything she and Jarod could do about that. Their objective was straightforward. Save the Hursts, arrest Goodrowe and as many other's as they could manage. "Once we make our move how soon can back-up be here?"

"Twenty minutes tops, and it'll be locals only, the nearest ATF office is in Missoula, the next in Helena. They might be here by nightfall once I make the call, but more likely tomorrow," he told her, still focused on what he could see.

"That'll have to do. We can hold the fort till then." She watched him look out at the world, seeing things as she did, and not reacting beyond amazement. He didn't find her strange, or odd, or scary and she found herself feeling thankful for that. Even her brother occasionally reacted in fear to what she could do, especially when she swung out of control. She needed to learn control, to have confidence in herself and who she was, but that continued to remain just out of her reach.

"The family has a single guard at the door. Two others with Goodrowe and Hurst and two… no, three patrolling with dogs." He blinked and shifted so that she was no longer in contact with him. "Can you affect the security?" She nodded. "Selectively, or in toto?"

"Whichever you wish," she told him. "Knocking it out entirely would give us a decided element of surprise, but he has a least one backup generator, which would give us a limited window to exploit."

"So selectively it is. I'll take the family, you take Goodrowe and Hurst. We'll meet out in the driveway, should everything go well."

"And if it crashes and burns from the get go?"

He chuckled. "What is it you and your partners say? We fake it." He got to his feet and held out a hand to assist her gaining an upright position. "Worry about the security for you only, I'll manage and you don't need your attention split that much."

She cocked her head. "You sure?"

"Very," he replied with a nod.

She narrowed her eyes. "You have an in," she stated, sensing that his confidence was more than just bravado.

"Maybe," he prevaricated, "Can't be giving away all my secrets on our first date, can I?" He tapped her on the nose and then strode away, leaving her standing there for a moment shaking her head in amusement.

 

**The Centre's private jet.**

**Somewhere over the Midwest.**

 

"Sydney. I found something you should see." Broots sat down next to the older man and pulled several small disks from his pocket.

"DSA's? Of who?" Sydney asked taking them from Broots.

"Michele. There isn't much. They only had a few occasions to record her I guess, but I found something odd." He pulled out the DSA machine and turned it on.

"Why didn't you show us these back at The Centre?" Sydney asked him as he waved for Miss Parker to come over.

Broots dropped his voice. "I was afraid to."

"And when aren't you?" Miss Parker said as she leaned over their shoulders.

Broots selected a particular disk and slid it into the machine. "This one is from when she was thirteen and hospitalized for a time."

The girl, truly a girl this time, was strapped to a hospital bed, looking exhausted and unhappy. The angle was horrible, from a hidden camera in one of the ceiling corners in the room. "Watch the television," Broots told them, staring at the screen in fascination even though he'd seen it already.

They did and were amazed to see it turn on and then begin to flip through the channels; slowly at first and then faster until the images were nothing but a blur. It ended when a light bulb somewhere in the room exploded with a blue flash of light and sparks. The girl didn't really react other than to blink and refocus on the television, which had settled on one station.

"She could control things back then? So why did The Centre leave her alone?" Miss Parker mused aloud clearly without really expecting an answer.

"Keep watching." Broots fast-forwarded to the next morning. Her parents had arrived and with them a boy of about the same age as Michele. "Her twin, Michael." After a moment the boy looked up at the camera almost as if he knew it was there and Broots froze the image. "See why I was afraid."

"My god," Sydney said in a hushed voice.

"No, Sydney, this was definitely the work of man," Miss Parker growled in utter disgust, "or at least The Centre."

 

**The Hurst Estate**

**Montana, Northern Rockies**

 

It was the dogs that caused the first problem. One of them caught their scent and, within moments, all three were charging up the hillside at them, barking, and howling loud enough to wake the dead, their handlers having released them to do what they did best: stop those not wanted on the property. Alyx stepped between Jarod and the mutts. Rottweiler's, nasty, dangerous dogs when trained for guard duty and she was betting these were trained to kill unwelcome guests. Reaching out she forced her way into their minds. She was in luck that they were all neutered males and that none seemed to be dominant to the others. Still, she didn't give them a chance to play nice and sent images and feelings into their simple, viscous little minds that convinced them she was their alpha female. It worked. They skidded to a halt some ten yards away and began to whine at her.

Alyx walked right up to them and all three crouched down wagging and snuffling at her. She held out her hand and they sat up as one, focused solely on her. She loosened her control slightly to see if they would revert to their previous behavior, but all trace of loyalty to those humans that used them to protect their property – and it was not Hurst – had been overridden. As far as these three were concerned, she was their god and would worship at her feet for all eternity should she so require it. Not quite what she had meant to do, but given she'd a) never done anything like this before and b) had been very limited on time if she and Jarod wanted to remain unbloody, was reasonably satisfied with the results. She hadn't fried their brains or killed them; they were simply loyal to her above all others.

She did not want to contemplate the god-like possibilities of that. Her alts might just get ideas… and not good ones.

Jarod came up beside her and all three dogs glared at him and began to growl, so Alyx sent another message proclaiming Jarod as alpha male. The dogs reacted by lying on their bellies before him, groveling before their new leader. She kind of hated the fact that it had been so very easy to do.

"What did you do?" Jarod asked reaching down to scratch one of the beasts behind the ears.

"I just made us the pack leaders," she explained, trying to keep her unhappiness at this nifty new ability inside. "They're coming. Three of them to see what our boys here have found." Alyx squatted down in front of the dogs. "Want to play?" All three dogs came to their feet panting happily at her. "Good boys." She sent an image into their minds of them chasing anyone who wasn't herself or Jarod, but to run away if guns were pointed at them. Alyx wanted to use them as a distraction not get them killed. When she was sure they understood she stood up and said, "Go." As one the three dogs ran off into the woods. Mere moments later shouts could be heard as they found their first target to torture.

"You sent the dogs after them?" Jarod asked her. "You have a rather devious mind don't you?"

Alyx just smiled. "Seems only right. C'mon we still have a family to rescue."

"Lead the way," Jarod said.

 

~^~

 

They made their way through the security fairly easily, but they both knew getting into the house would be easier than getting out with the Hursts. Of course, they had to get to them first. Alyx's mental foray into the minds of those within gave them a reasonable certainty where they were – that master bedroom where they'd been holed up the other day. Goodrowe and Hurst, however, were smothered by a ton of electronics, which meant they were most likely in or near the security office, or at least the hub for the entire system. From what she could tell, they still had two others nearby, but she was no longer certain they were in the room with them.

They were able to get close to the back of the house with her making the cameras fuzz out as needed. Based on the power grid in her mind, the exterior of the house was the most heavily covered, with two cameras in the garage and smattering inside, though she could not be certain what those rooms were precisely. Motion and sound sensors were at every window and door, but were simple to trick, which gave them easy access through a rear door that opened onto an elaborate porch on the exterior and a wet bar on the inside.

Getting to the security room was easy. She followed the map in her head and made certain the interior security had been disabled, which it normally was when people were home. The lack of human guards worried her, but not unduly… not yet, anyway. The boring plain door that she hoped led to the main security system was locked, which she solved by moving the tumblers with her mind. A quick glance at Jarod and he shoved his way in to find the room… empty.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," she muttered under her breath as they sat down before the monitors to sort out what was going on.

"Well?" Jarod said looking over the monitors with about as much success as she was having.

"The family is there." Alyx pointed to the northwest corner of the house, up one flight. "Three inside – mom and the kids – one guard outside." It was then Goodrowe showed his face on the monitors, in what looked like an office, one of the few interior rooms to rate a camera. "There he is." With him was Hurst, who did not look happy, but seemed to be unharmed as of yet.

"You take Goodrowe, you've got that advantage of yours. I'll get the family," Jarod said. "We'll meet up later."

"Good enough. I'm gonna kill the grid, make it look like a short. You'll probably have ninety seconds before the generator kicks on. If he has any secondary monitors in that office they'll be out until it comes back up. He might even have to do a local reboot before he can see anything." When Jarod nodded Alyx closed her eyes and followed the power for the security system back to its source and sent a surge through the system causing the breakers to go off and shutting down the entire security system. "It's down."

"Good luck, Alyx." Jarod opened the door and checked the hall before heading out.

"You too." Alyx Quicksilvered and followed him out the door heading the opposite way down the hallway. This should be interesting.

Alyx took out the sole guard standing outside Hurst's office with little effort then knocked on the door. When it was cautiously opened Alyx shoved herself against it slamming it into the poor schmuck who had been standing behind it. He went to the floor and, with one additional punch to the head, was napping peacefully. Goodrowe pulled his weapon and searched the room looking for something he still couldn't see. Alyx pulled her gun out of her holster and circled around Goodrowe, pressing the cool barrel behind his ear, she let it become visible while she still was not.

"Mr. Goodrowe, nice to finally meet you," she whispered in his ear. "Now, nice and easy, hand your weapon to Mr. Hurst."

Goodrowe did as requested, holding the gun out butt first for Mr. Hurst to take, though he looked utterly confused, which she supposed was understandable. She shed the Quicksilver, giving the man a wink as he started in surprise. "Have anything handy to tie him up with? Phone cord will do, if there's nothing else."

He hesitated for an instant, still staring in stunned disbelief at the person, namely her, who had seemingly appeared out of thin air, then tucked the handgun into the front of his pants and moved to the desk. Much to her amusement he withdrew a pair of handcuffs from a drawer and brought them over to her. "Will these do?"

"More than adequately," she assured him. Then to Goodrowe. "Be a good boy. Trust me when I say I'll have no problems kneecapping you if that's what it takes to get you to behave."

Goodrowe grunted as if kicked. "You have no idea who you are messing with. If you think you can just take over my territory—"

Alyx cut him off with a harsh bark of laughter. "Take over," she sputtered as she directed Hurst to put the cuffs about Goodrowe's wrists. "You seem to be under the misapprehension that I give a flying fuck about you. No, I'm just here for the Hursts."

Mr. Hurst twitched at that, concern flickering over his face.

"I'm here to rescue you," Alyx quickly elaborated. "Federal agent, working a joint project with the ATF."

Goodrowe swore at that revelation. "Let me guess, Agent Miner." Clearly a statement and not a question, and that worried Alyx. What if…

The cuffs secure, Alyx urged the man into motion. "Easy does it. Take a seat behind the desk if you would."

Goodrowe didn't argue, in fact he looked quite smug, which boded ill for things going as planned.  _*Jarod, we may have a problem.*_

_*What kind of problem?*_

_*The trap kind,*_  she informed him.  _*Might want to up the pace a tad.*_

_*On it,*_  he responded, fully understanding her concern and need for urgency.

She turned to Hurst. "Any inside info would be most welcome right now."

"My family?"

"My partner is working on that right now," she assured him, being most careful to not mention Jarod's name.

Hurst nodded and looked like a giant weight had lifted from his shoulders. "I don't have specifics, but I know he," he hooked his thumb at the arms dealer in the office chair, "was expecting this Agent Miner to interfere and planned accordingly."

Alyx sighed softly. "That would explain the lack of security." She dimpled at Goodrowe. "Care to give me the details?"

Goodrowe laughed. "I think not." The power blinked just then, not the generator, but the system resetting which meant the security would now be working again.

Alyx strode over to the desk and picked up a paperweight and hefted it in her palm. She closed her eyes and focused on the security system, making certain it had been automatically reset for the home setting then opened her eyes, and smiled at Goodrowe. "Valuable?" she asked of Hurst who shook his head. "Good." Then she tossed it through the window.

Goodrowe snorted. "You think that will do you any good?"

"Guess it depends on how good the security company is," she responded.

Hurst brightened. "Very, especially when they realize my phone lines are out," he turned to Goodrowe, a look of triumph on his features.

Goodrowe frowned. "You think it matters? There is no chance they'll be here in time."

Alyx shrugged. "They'll be here in time to clean up the mess. That's all I need."

She looked over the room, deciding to use the defunct phone cord to tie Goodrowe to the chair. She then stripped off his socks and shoes and shoved one of the former into his mouth. "Your contact in the Free Quebec Militia," she barked, which was effective. He shook his head, refusing to tell even while the name came to the forefront of his mind. She patted the man on the shoulder and turned to Mr. Hurst. "You willing to use that to protect your family?" She waved at the weapon stuffed into the front of his pants.

"Yes," he told her without hesitation.

"Good, we may just need it."

 

~^~

 

Jarod really disliked the lack of guards throughout the house. There had to be a reason for it as Goodrowe was usually not this sloppy… or overconfident. Still, Jarod would be more than happy to take the gift horse and use it to his advantage. He peeked around the final corner that led to the master bedroom to see who exactly was guarding the door and recognized the man immediately. Boldly stepping around the corner, the man reacted by going for his gun at first, but stopped as he realized he knew Jarod.

"Where have you been, Jarod? You still owe me ten." The guy had gone completely friendly and Jarod was able to walk right up to them.

"I know. I've got the money right here." Jarod pretended to reach for his wallet under his jacket, but instead pulled his gun and poked it into the man's nose painfully hard. "The keys, quietly."

The man wriggled a bit, but complied without a peep. Jarod unlocked the door and shoved the man inside. Ignoring the family for the moment, he quickly stripped the weaponry from the man then cold cocked him, leaving him to fall unconscious to the floor. Then he focused on the family, still dressed in their nightclothes. "Do you have clothes for the children in here?"

Mrs. Hurst appeared to be in shock, but nodded. "Yes, everything but shoes."

"Then get dressed quickly," he ordered, opening the door slightly to check the hallway, but all remained quiet. He turned about to see that Mrs. Hurst had yet to move, clearly not ready to trust this stranger who had just burst into the room. Her daughter came to his rescue.

"Mommy this is the man I told you about. He stopped that nasty man from hurting me."

"You helped her?"

He nodded. "Now, please, hurry." Jarod had spent several weeks working for Goodrowe, but so far down the food chain that the man had never seen him in person. He'd done some low level security and transport and used his access to delve deeper into the operation, which is how he'd found out about this move in Nowheresville Montana. Little reason for the ATF to look for trouble here, Hurst had kept his operation clean for years, and pressure from Goodrowe had been easily resisted until he'd taken a  _personal_  interest in the situation and the Navshots taking up temporary residence in his warehouse, Hurst's part of the manufacturing process simple, but necessary. Goodrowe had simply taken advantage of it and found the one thing that would make the man work for him: his family.

He checked the hallway again, pleased to see it remained clear for the moment, when Alyx's voice entered his mind.

_*Jarod, we may have a problem.*_

There was definite concern in her voice and he found it interesting that she could somehow send him images as well, specifically of a less than concerned Goodrowe restrained in an office chair _. *What kind of problem?*_

_*The trap kind,*_  she informed him, her bad vibe about the situation coming through loud and clear.  _*Might want to up the pace a tad.*_

Something was most certainly up, so to speak, and he wanted to be well away from the estate when all hell broke loose. _*On it,*_  he assured her, not about to let any harm befall the Hursts. "Are you ready?"

"As we can be," Mrs. Hurst said, standing straight and tall, and containing a strength he had suspected had lain beneath the surface.

"Can you handle a gun?"

She smiled. "Sharpshooting champ for three years in a row in my twenties," she told him.

Jarod smiled back and handed over the handgun he'd taken off of Goodrowe's man. "Use it if you need to," he told her, meeting her eyes with a look as serious as he could muster.

"I will, now how are we…" she trailed off staring at the alarm box set into the wall next to the master bedroom door.

"What?" Jarod asked, noting the blinking orange light and number four flashing on the screen.

"Motion alarm has been set off. The downstairs office window."

Jarod chuckled softly. "Don't worry, I'm betting it was intentional."

Mrs. Hurst relaxed only marginally. "You don't understand, yes the alarm will bring the police… eventually, but Goodrowe has an army. And they're far closer. If you are this Miner he's been talking about, us being here is a trap… for you."

Jarod's jaw tightened, the muscles flexing visibly in the lighting of the room. "All the more reason to get you out of here."

She nodded, not about to argue with that. "The garage would probably be best. There's a back stairway we can use, our boots and coats will be in the mudroom."

"Works." He opened the door a crack and looked out into the still empty hallway wary of a trap, including from the woman behind him. It was entirely possible that she'd either been in on this plan from the start, or could possibly have been swayed over to Goodrowe's side. Perhaps convinced that her family would go free if she helped lure Jarod Miner into a compromising position. Lacking Alyx's ability to read minds, he would just have to hope she wanted nothing more than to be free of this situation and her family back together.

They made their way down the back stairwell, through the elaborate kitchen and to the mudroom; where the threesome hurriedly donned their winter wear when the entire house shook from an explosion.

 

~^~

 

Alyx and Mr. Hurst had abandoned the office once she'd confirmed that Goodrowe hadn't been kidding about them not getting away in time. She'd thrown caution to the four winds and dropped her shields completely, casting her senses as far out as she could. Nearer to the house there were little more than the usual forest creatures, but to the east, almost directly opposite the way they had come in were dozens and dozens of men, all armed to the teeth and on vehicles that could handle the terrain. They hadn't been moving yet, but a quick search of their minds revealed they had mere minutes before they would be surrounded.

Their window of opportunity was swiftly closing.

The house was huge and though she had the power layout in her head, had no real idea where she was going. "Best way out?"

"Garage," he said without hesitation, and she waved for him to lead the way. He not only made guns, but also knew exactly what to do with them. While cautious they did not waste any time moving through the building. They were in some back hallway when an explosion rocked the entire house.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Hurst questioned, one hand on the wall for support.

Alyx kept moving, but turned her focus outward, to find that the cavalry had arrived… and not theirs.

Their time had just run out.

_*Jarod, sit-rep.*_

His response was instant.  _*Mudroom off the garage.*_

_*Good. Stay put, we're en route to you. There are dozens of them out there and they are_ _**not** _ _the good guys.*_

_*There went that faint hope,*_  he groused mentally much to her surprise.  _*We'll be waiting. Hurry.*_

_*Fast as we can,*_ she assured and then broke contact. "Run," she told Mr. Hurst and he didn't even hesitate and just took off at a speed that astonished her. This was why she ran as many days a week as she could fit it in. It was a lot easier to run away from the bad guys if you were faster than them.

A single shot through the kitchen window caused her to dive forward into Hurst, getting him out of the line of fire as that lone bullet was quickly followed by at least three fully automated weapons unloading their clips into the room. She focused and threw up a wall between them and the bullets, one that curved about them as splinters from the counters and kitchen appliances began peppering the room. "Move," she urged him, and he pushed himself into a crouch and continued the journey across the kitchen, which suddenly seemed miles long instead of less than twenty feet. There was a pause as the first clips emptied and were replaced and then the hail of bullets began again. By then, thankfully, they had made it to the mudroom, where Jarod hovered protectively over the family crouched down by his knees. The kids squealed upon seeing their father and Alyx dropped the shield so that he could join them. She was pretty certain he had not even realized she'd been deflecting the bullets away from them.

"Methinks Goodrowe is pissed," she observed, tone wry.

"I have to agree with that assessment," Jarod stated, irony heavy in his tone. "You all right?"

"Fine, why?"

He reached out and wiped a trickle of blood from her cheek. Only then did it start to hurt, burn more like, as if it were a paper cut. "Granite counter tops. Probably a splinter. Any ideas?"

"Not dying is good," the young boy suggested, making Alyx snort in amusement.

"Now, that sounds like a most excellent plan." She turned to Mr. Hurst. "Why the garage?"

"It's also one of my workshops, the entire building is reinforced," he explained. "Plus the ATVs are inside. Thought we might use them for a getaway."

She looked up at Jarod, who had frowned slightly. "Good plan, except for the unexpected army now outside. Any alternatives?"

"Miner, we know you're in there. Come out, hands up, and unarmed and I'll consider letting the family go." The voice was muffled, but clear enough to recognize it as Goodrowe.

"Shit, Goodrowe got loose," Alyx growled.

"More likely rescued," Mr. Hurst argued, "no way he could have gotten out unless he was cut free."

Alyx grinned. "True enough."

"Miner. You have five minutes, or we're coming in and killing anything that moves."

Alyx closed her eyes, the pain in her head upping a notch. "He's not kidding… not that he intends to let any of us walk away." She shuddered at the filth in the man's mind. Bad enough what he had planned for the children, but what he'd come up for her was… inventive and would be quite painful for a  _very_  long time.

"We won't let you do that," Mr. Hurst stated and Alyx opened her eyes, apparently Jarod had chosen to play the role of martyr; noble but very unnecessary.

"Oh, yes we will," Alyx informed them in no uncertain terms, "but not without an ace or two up our sleeves."

Jarod turned a questioning look upon her, but brightened almost immediately. "You mean…"

She nodded. "I'll get them out while you play bait. You'll be perfectly safe, promise."

He laughed. "I have no doubt of that." He turned to Mr. Hurst who looked confused at the half of a discussion he had just heard. "We have a way to get you out, all of you, but you have to promise to tell no one about it afterwards."

The family members looked at each other then all nodded. "We talking about some sort of Top Secret tech or the like?" Mr. Hurst asked.

"Or the like," Alyx answered, holding up an arm that she had allowed the Quicksilver to flow over; within seconds the appendage had disappeared from sight.

Mr. Hurst's eyes widened then narrowed as the potential registered on him. "It doesn't hurt?"

She flaked the Quicksilver away, falling onto the floor like glitter. "Nope. We'll have to stay close together, and in contact, but it should get us past their line and in the clear."

"And then what? You can't hold it forever, can you?" Mrs. Hurst had to be the one to ask that question.

"Don't need to, dear, just need to buy enough time for the police to arrive." Mr. Hurst glanced at the clock on the wall, clearly making calculations in his head. "Should be no more than fifteen minutes."

"Response time, once the security company contacts them should be twenty minutes given the driving conditions," Jarod said, after doing his own calculations. "They should be on the way at the very least."

"Then we'll just have to encourage them to drive faster," Alyx said. "I'm sure I can find something to blow up."

"They had ATVs and Hummers, and I know roughly how many are outside," the not so little girl stated with a shrug, even as her mom's eyes widened. "What? I watched them out the window. Not like I had much else to do."

"Out of the mouths of babes," Jarod observed with a grin. "So, we will wait till the last moment, out the garage door, all of you moving at a right angle to me, to the left would be best, I suspect and get behind them." To Mr. Hurst. "Anything to hide behind in that direction?"

"The woodpile," the boy announced brightly, wanting to be a part of the planning.

"Perfect. Follow Alyx's lead, she will protect all of you." Jarod glanced at her and she nodded. She would keep them safe and unharmed even at the risk of her own life.

"Any intel you can supply would be appreciated," Jarod asked of her, certainly knowing what she would need to do to accomplish this task.

She didn't argue, instead shifting to sit comfortably on the floor. "How much time do we have?"

"Two minutes," Mr. Hurst replied, clearly having a very accurate clock in his head, as it agreed with hers.

"Give me thirty seconds." She didn't wait for a response, relaxing her body and opening her shields. The noise nearly overwhelmed her, but she fought her way through, totaling up the individual minds, the vehicles, the weaponry – to a degree – and where they all were. She opened her eyes at exactly the thirty second mark. She pulled off a glove and raised her hand, which Jarod took as if they had done this a hundred times before. He stiffened slightly, sight turning inward as he absorbed all the info from her mental recon as well as her full plan. She had no intentions of leaving him unprotected. There was a fair chance that as soon as he came into the open Goodrowe, or his men would fire with the sole intent to kill Jarod, and she would not allow that to happen. Oh, they would be able to fire, but not a single bullet would hit him, and he would not be unarmed, though it would appear that way to anyone watching him.

"Got it," Jarod told her once he had sorted through all of it. "Let's get into position."

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

With ten seconds to spare on the five minute time limit Jarod triggered the garage door to rumble upwards. The driveway had been swept clean of snow, which meant no footprints for the five-some trying to escape. Invisibility had its uses, but also drawbacks. They might not be seen, but footprints in the snow would be, though Alyx had assured him that she would make every effort to remove all traces as they went. He did not look, did not turn to make certain that they had already, as per the plan, headed off towards the impressive woodpile. Thankfully, the majority of the snow in the area had been trampled down, leaving few unmarred places to reveal the location of the group. Confident all was going as planned, he stepped out into the sunlight, both hands up where they could easily be seen. He'd stripped out of the heavy coat and sweater, leaving him in the snug long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. He was cold, but not horribly so. Anyone could tell he was completely unarmed.

 

Thanks to Alyx he wasn't.

The gun was quite cold, thanks to the Quicksilver, but dangling from the fingers of his right hand. He knew he only had a couple minutes before it became visible, but that was all the time he needed to buy.

"I'm here, now let the Hursts go."

"In good time," Goodrowe stated with false joviality. "First, I want to know where your partner is. I have a score to settle with her."

"Partner? I don't have a partner." Jarod knew he wouldn't believe that for an instant, but the purpose was to prevaricate and drag this out as long as possible. Once Alyx had moved into her secondary position, she'd signal him, till then he needed to keep the attention of everyone here.

"Search the house," Goodrowe ordered in bored tone. "The place is surrounded, so unless there's a safe room we haven't yet discovered, we  _will_  find them."

"And I'm telling you I don't have a partner," Jarod said, feigning utter bewilderment. He was always amazed at how easily he could fake such emotions. His fingers were going numb and he'd need move soon if he wanted to be able to shoot straight. Though he could switch to his left, he supposed, his skills were just as good with that hand. Ah, a plan.

_*Jarod, we're in position.*_

He wasn't quite certain who the 'we' encompassed, but he ignored it for now.  _*On with the show.*_

"How about just dropping your weapons and surrendering."

Laughter erupted from all those within earshot. When the mirth faded a bit Goodrowe said, "Okay, I'll bite. Why would I even consider that?"

Jarod felt the Quicksilver flake away from the gun and lowered his arms, aiming the weapon at Goodrowe's head. "Because you're surrounded," Jarod told him straight-faced. Still Goodrowe didn't believe it. Not till shots from behind began taking down his men with surprising efficiency.

Goodrowe's reaction was to fire three shots at Jarod, none of which struck home, all deflecting off some unseen barrier a fair three feet in front of him, for which Jarod was very thankful, as the man's aim appeared to be quite accurate. He fired one shot at Goodrowe that only missed because the man dropped flat to the ground to avoid it. Jarod walked forward, straight towards him firing off a round each step, to keep him in place, which it effectively did, his hands trying to protect his head, until Jarod stood over him and the gun clicked on empty, the slide shifting backwards to signal an empty clip.

"Now," Goodrowe shouted, actual fear audible in his voice, "use it now."

Jarod had no idea what that meant, but the echoingly loud bang behind him told him all the bad news he didn't really want to know. Goodrowe had kept at least one Navshot for himself and had decided to use it for eliminating Jarod, even if it meant getting bits of person blown all over his thousand dollar suit. Mere milliseconds passed as Jarod made the decision to drop to the ground in what would surely be a vain attempt to avoid the heat-seeking projectile. He felt as if he were moving in slow motion, the oversized bullet compensating for his movement, as its targeting system had already locked on him. Just as it dove straight down at him, the projectile seeming to grow in his vision until reaching gigantic proportions as it closed in, a bright yellow fireball appeared out of thin air; a glowing spot of intense heat that flew between the bullet and Jarod, drawing it away and luring it to impact a tree a good thirty yards away. The tree did not survive the experience, the trunk shattering and the upper half falling into those behind it with a tremendous crash.

A very visible Alyx stepped into view then, anger coloring her visage, and making her look like nothing less than an avenging angel. "Enough," she roared, and every man standing suddenly found themselves flattened to the ground, unable to move. Their weapons flung themselves into a pile just inside the garage, the door rumbling shut of its own volition to seal them within. She whistled then, and the three dogs came running around the corner of the house. She pointed at the house, a scary smile on her face and ordered, "Hunt." All three barked in response and took off.

Jarod got to his feet, brushing off the snow and slush that had stuck to him, bent down to take Goodrowe's obvious weapon as well as search for any others – he found two – and then joined Alyx. Based on the unhappy echoing of her mind into his, he understood that she'd pushed the envelope too far and at least one of those other personalities of hers had decided to come out and play. He wasn't Darien, not what she needed to bring her mind back under her own control, but he hoped he could help, provide the support she required to put that genie back in its ever so fragile bottle.

Prepared for the worst, he set his bare hand over hers. She looked up at him, her eyes glowing with all of the immense power she controlled, but didn't pull away. He focused his mind, picturing the strong, brave, caring woman he'd spent the night with just a day and a half ago and simply said her name, "Michele."

She shuddered, the light sputtering and going out. "Jarod?" she questioned, blinking up at him as she came back to herself. Then, much to his disconcertment, her nose began to bleed. "Ow," she groused, free hand going to her forehead.

Sirens were heard in the distance and Goodrowe struggled to get to his feet. Jarod prepared to run over and stop him, but Alyx's grip about his hand tightened and he felt her do… something and the arms dealer grunted, flattening back onto the frozen ground, no longer able to move.

"Alyx—"

"I'm not risking  _any_  of them getting away."

"But," he waved at her face and she used her free hand to swipe at her nose, the fingers coming away bloody, "you're hurt."

"You think a little nose bleed is gonna stop me?" He hated that her words were slurred, but knew she would not back down, not until certain everything had been dealt with.

Mr. Hurst poked his head around the woodpile, gun still in hand. "We may be able to assist with that."

Jarod nodded and waved for them to come out of hiding. They would be safe enough until the police had everyone rounded up and accounted for. He whistled and after a couple minutes the dogs came running up and sat at their feet; he didn't want the police to shoot them by accident. Based on the bits of cloth between their teeth, their hunt had been successful.

Mr. Hurst looked astonished. Clearly, he knew the dogs and what they could be capable of. "What did you do to them?" he asked and then shook his head. "No, don't tell me." He met Alyx's eyes, honest admiration in his. "Thank you. Your secret is safe with us."

Alyx managed a broken and bloody smile. "I know."

Two police cruisers appeared then, and within moments of exiting the vehicle one was on the radio asking for as much backup as he could get.

"The truck," Alyx mumbled, her strength waning. "They'll need backup as well."

"Shit, you're right." Jarod pulled out his phone as he walked over to an officer to explain the full situation, texting Fawkes that the family was safe and that it was time to make their play.

 

**Northern Montana**

**Near the Canadian Border**

 

"We have a go," Darien informed Hobbes, still trailing a few miles behind the convoy to keep from being spotted. They'd gotten off 93 a while ago, but this secondary road, while only two lanes, had been plowed and driving had been fairly easy. "How we gonna do this? Stopping just the truck was pretty straightforward, but now we got two escort vehicles and only two of us."

_Good frickin' question._ Bobby thought, not wanting to encourage more dissention in the ranks. If it wasn't for the lack of red eyes he would have bet that his partner had boarded that train to nutsoville a while ago. Fawkes' phone did that text message bleep again. "What now?"

"Jarod has the police coming to back us up, but they're not going to get here for probably thirty minutes or better."

"And we're less than that from the border," Hobbes groused, knowing help being on the way was more than they'd had a few minutes ago. "All right, how about the ol' divide and conquer?" he suggested.

"How so?" Darien turned slightly, the look on his face confused.

"Uh, maybe just pretend we're passing and take out the truck on the way by." Not the greatest plan, but not bad either.

"Force him off the road as we pass," Dairen mused. "Could work, though we risk getting shot at by the follow car."

"And the lead car once they realize what's going on, but the truck'll be stopped, which is the goal here."

Darien held up his hands in surrender. "Not arguing, just pointing out the potentially deadly flaws in this plan. Though I think I should be driving for this."

"Umm, why?" Fawkes had greatly improved on his offensive and defensive driving skills, both Alyx and Hobbes working with him to fill the gaps between thief and spy. Driving a getaway car was not the same as pulling off stunt like this. Running someone off the road was damn dangerous even for those skilled in the various techniques, then add in potential gunfire and things could get very deadly very quickly.

"Umm, 'cause you have the gun," Fawkes mocked. "What, you think I can't maneuver this crate up next to a semi  _and_  encourage him to pull over? Besides, if he fights back you can just shoot out the tires."

Now, that made sense, lots of it. "Good thinking, my friend." Even though the road was empty, he flipped the signal, pulled over onto the poor excuse for a breakdown lane, and put the SUV into park. "The Chinese Fire Drill may now commence."

Darien snorted and stepped out in the freezing cold air, all the heat inside vanishing in an instant.

They were back on the road in a few minutes, after some amused bitching about having to adjust the seat five ways to Sunday in order for his majesty's longer legs to fit. Admittedly, he had slid the seat back to its limit so he could drive without whacking his knees into the underside of the dash. "They haven't changed course, so put the pedal to the metal."

"Yeah, let's get this over and done with," Darien said, voice low and rough, his mood having swung to the other end of the pendulum yet again.

Hobbes had no idea what was going on in his partner's head, but so long as he held it together and allowed them to get this job done successfully, he didn't care. Fawkes floored it, pushing the SUV up past seventy, which was pretty much the limit, given the road conditions. It wouldn't take them much time to catch up, so Hobbes pulled out his weapon, popped out the clip, made certain it was full and slid it back home with a solid metallic thunk. There were as prepared as they were going to get.

He looked down at the screen, noting they were closing in on the convoy fairly quickly, they would need to slow down and make it look as if they wanted no more than pass the trio; charging up on them like a bat out of hell would just make them suspicious. According to the GPS they were coming up on a long wide curve with the bad guys just completing it, while they were just beginning, which made it a perfect time to slow down and play normal. "Fawkes, time to slow it down."

Fawkes visibly ground his teeth for several seconds, but with an audible sigh did as requested. "I know what to do, Hobbes."

"Not saying you don't, Fawkes, just letting you know it's time to do it is all." Hobbes glanced at the speedometer to see they'd slowed down to a comparatively sedate sixty, which was still well above the posted limit of fifty. The convoy appeared in the distance, probably a mile or less ahead, but the gap closed rapidly. Fawkes slowed a bit more, bringing it down to that five mile an hour overage most drivers assumed cops permitted. He rolled up on the follow car, staying four or so car lengths behind to check the situation out. The pick-up in front, SUV behind, both off the lot models from the look of it. The truck was not an articulated semi with separate cab and trailers, but the back was still twenty feet long and currently holding several crates of very dangerous weapons. They needed to try to get them to pull over without damaging the contents, though he would be willing to bet the government would rather lose a few than have them fall into the hands of a terrorist group.

Fawkes checked the mirrors and glanced at the computer. "Long straightaway coming up, you ready?"

Hobbes nodded. "Yeah. Nice and easy, don't want the follow car to freak out."

"Will do." Fawkes flipped on the blinker, slid the car to the left just enough to see down the long stretch of road before pulling out completely and speeding up. The follow car did nothing untoward, and the driver did little more than glance over at them as they passed. They moved forward until parallel with the cab of the truck, where Fawkes matched the speed and slowly began to drift to the right.

The driver let fly with his air horn, but Fawkes ignored it, a look of insane pleasure on his face as he continued to creep the SUV closer and closer to the wheels of the truck. The driver shifted to the right, far tires throwing up gravel and dirty snow as he hit the rougher surface of the breakdown lane. That's when the follow car made his move, pulling in behind them and running into the back of their vehicle. Just a love tap to let them know their interference was not appreciated.

Fawkes snarled softly, but held steady, tapping the accelerator slightly to get ahead of the truck then, jerked the wheel hard to the right, putting his nose in front of the semi, who responded by following suit and damn near tipping over as it accelerated in an attempt to get past their SUV.

Hobbes glanced in the side mirror, the angle now offset thanks to the bump from behind, which allowed him to see an arm come out of the passenger window of the SUV holding a fair sized handgun and fire off three quick shots. Fawkes had already pulled to the left this time, the bullets flying by harmlessly.

The lead vehicle had finally figured out something was going on and shifted to the left, directly in front of them, again the passenger window opened and a gun appeared, this time a shotgun. The first blast went wild, the second turned the right side of the windshield into a spiderweb of cracks, but it held together.

"Hobbes, shoot the damn tires."

"Yeah," Hobbes agreed, powering down his window as Fawkes slid the SUV right back next to the truck. Hobbes aimed and hit the front tire of the truck on the first try.

Fawkes slammed on the brakes as the truck slewed drunkenly in their direction. Somehow he managed to dodge the car right behind them, executing and impressive 360-degree spin that ended with them having a front row seat to the disaster that ensued. The SUV that had been on their ass, surged past directly into the left side of the truck as it slewed drunkenly and unavoidably in front of them. The two vehicles then hit the rough surface on the edge of the road, as well as the piled snow and the truck overbalanced, tipping to, luckily for the men inside the SUV, the opposite direction and onto its right side with a tremendous crash and snow flying up into the air.

Darien threw the SUV into park, knowing that it was time to make that stand, even as the two bruised and bloodied men boiled out of the damaged SUV. The lead truck managed a neck-whipping U-turn and came roaring back, weapons at the ready. They were two against seven at Hobbes' best estimate, though the guys in the truck, especially the one that had been in the back, probably weren't going to be of much use in the upcoming battle.

Hobbes didn't bother to hesitate, wanting to intimidate these mooks before they realized they still had the advantage, gun drawn and at the ready he slipped out into the frigid air and shouted, "Federal Agents, drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads."

One of the men from the lead car, exited, shotgun aimed at Hobbes. "And why should we do that?"

"Delivery, ain't gonna happen, pal, might as well come in all quiet like," Hobbes pointed out, knowing they weren't going to buy it for a hot second. Still, it was worth a shot.

He shouldered the weapon, appearing ready to fire, when it jerked itself sideways with a solid crack into the side of his head. He dropped like a stone. The shotgun targeted the follow car and fired just once, shattering the rear window. The two men who had climbed out, ready to join their co-worker in resisting arrest, hastily dropped their guns into the snow, eyes wide at the shotgun floating in the air. Hobbes moved towards them trying not to laugh, he'd never even heard Fawkes leave the SUV. Smartass.

"Get the passenger," Hobbes reminded, encouraging the twosome to plant their hands on the trunk of the car, regardless of the safety glass sprinkled across the surface.

"Sure," Fawkes answered, poking the shotgun in the window, making the man scramble across the driver's seat to get out. He took up a prone position on the ground next to his downed comrade.

Hobbes glanced over his shoulder in time to see the Quicksilver flake off his partner's body. Fawkes was rubbing the back of his head and when he met Hobbes' eyes they were streaked with bloody veins. Clearly, the toxin had finally started registering on his body, if not on the monitor. And here they were miles from Counteragent. "Fawkes?"

The first real sign things were not going well occurred then, the seizure driving Fawkes to his knees with a grunt of pain. "Fuck," he swore, knuckles white on the barrel of the shotgun.

"Get in the car, Fawkes, I got this covered."

The conscious trio exchanged a look, clearly thinking about how to take advantage of the sudden shift in power.

Fawkes snarled. "Don't even think about," he barked at the one closest to him, "or I'll give you a taste of what your friend got and you can just nap till the locals show up to haul your asses in."

As if he had channeled the kid's psychic powers, sirens could be heard in the distance, and within minutes the cops, state police in this case, arrived on scene, more than a touch shocked at the weapons they found in the back of the truck, completely floored at the heist via blackmail that had been happening right under their noses. Not that the Eureka locals had done any better, but still.

"Fawkes, just keep it together till we get back, okay?" Hobbes was shocked to see that his friend's eyes were clear again, not even a hint that the toxin had built up enough to show any outwards signs. "What the hell?"

Fawkes looked scared. "Not a clue, Hobbesy. Best I stay in the car unless you need me. Tell 'em I hit my head or something, but…" He trailed off, his concerns not needing to be stated out loud.

Hobbes nodded. "I got this. I'll get you your shot ASAP, but it might be a while. Play Sudoko or something."

Fawkes managed a shaky laugh, but nodded. "I'll do that." He climbed into the SUV without any more argument; he pulled out his phone and stared at it for a few seconds before putting it down without dialing.

Hobbes knew things were wonky, but wasn't certain how much was real and how much was just Fawkes' brain screwing with him and right now he didn't have time to figure it out. With a sigh he joined the officers as they dealt with the lovely mess the feds had dropped in their backyard. They thought this was bad; wait till Hobbes explained about the Hursts and the ATF involvement.

 

**Hurst Estate**

**Near Eureka Montana**

 

Alyx's head  _hurt_. She sat in the passenger seat of the jeep, which Jarod had scampered off to collect once things had been reasonably settled at the Hurst estate, the three dogs sat on the ground near her, warily, yet calmly watching everything that went on about them. The EMTs had tried to treat her three times, until she'd explained there was little they could do unless they had some damn strong pain meds on them, which she wouldn't take because she needed to remain conscious for the time being. She had texted Drake to let him know they had reached the mop up stage and reports would be forthcoming once the needed recovery time had been completed.

She and Hobbes had been texting back and forth once they'd succeeded in their task of stopping the truck, apparently by driving it off the road and onto its side, which, while messy, had still been effective. The state police that had been called to assist had arrived in the proverbial nick of time to wrangle the half dozen bad guys that had been there, so her boys were relatively unharmed. Some bumps and bruises from the rough driving. Minor cuts from shattering glass, nothing an ice pack and band-aid couldn't take care of. Those were the surface injuries. Darien, based on the colorful description from Bobby, was having some serious issues; madness symptoms presenting then disappearing within a short span of time. Why, not even she had an answer. Oh, she had best guesses based on the data she had in her head, but she could give him no answers that would be of any use out in the middle of nowhere. He needed to get back to the resort and the kit they now carried everywhere, just in case. Granted just in case didn't occur very often these days, which is probably why the one time they forgot it all hell decided to break loose.

Typical.

Jarod approached, a pair of steaming cups in his hands, the dogs lifted their heads, but otherwise did nothing, they had growled at anyone else who had tried to approach her. He held one out to her, which she took with shaking hands. "Chamomile tea," he told her. "Thought it might help some… or at least not cause any more harm."

She sipped at it, found it strong, but pleasantly sweet and scented, calming even; just what her abused senses needed. "Thank you," she said, meaning it and for more than just the tea. She had lost it earlier, too much pain, too much to do, and her evil twin, one of them anyway, had come out to play, deciding  _she_  could better deal with the situation. The other persona hadn't really been wrong, but given the callousness, hadn't been as gentle as Alyx might have been, leaving quite a few with bruised and broken noses and cheekbones that had connected forcefully, and unexpectedly, with the ground.

No one had asked, and no one had told. Well, except for Goodrowe who had gone into a spittle spewing rant that made it look like he'd be spending his incarceration time in a straightjacket instead of an orange jumpsuit, which was just fine with her, so long as he was finally off the streets and unable to hurt anyone ever again.

"No need, we're… we're family for better or worse and if I can help I will," he said softly and she met his eyes over the top of her mug, making the effort to smile, though it hurt. "Can you… feel anything right now?"

She shook her head, stopping quickly as the world failed to keep up with her sight, making her close her eyes until everything settled… she hoped. "Uh, no? I mean, I still have my senses, but don't even ask me to try and do anything beyond the norm. My head is killing me. This is a six hour one at the minimum."

Jarod blinked. "Six hour? What does that mean?"

She took in a slow deep breath as the pain upped a notch for an instant, a fine, thin needle sliding into her right temple. "Umm, minimum hours of sleep to recover from the overuse. Well, with pain meds that'll knock me out."

"Won't that leave you vulnerable?"

"Yep," she agreed, "but I think these boys will keep trouble at bay." She waved at the dogs at his feet, all three gazing upwards in seeming adoration at her. She'd done her work too well, once again, making her the center of their tiny universes and she couldn't take it back. How was she supposed to explain to her landlord that she now had three Rottweillers she wanted to keep in an apartment that didn't even allow fish. Oh, and that's before explaining to her boss what she had somehow managed to do, she didn't even what to contemplate what his greedy little heart would want to do with that news. Creating unwitting CIs, turning people into puppets, or even worse, maybe implant a personality or two, like one that gathered intel solely for the Agency, and when they needed it she would simply wake it up, get the data and then bury it again, the real human, good or bad, completely oblivious to what had occurred. A cuckoo in every nest.

She rubbed her forehead as the pain upped a notch. She could pull off Heilberg's programming all on her own. Little wonder they continually tried to sway her to the dark side. Hell, she might be safer there, as they clearly had a better understanding of her and her mind than even herself.

She wondered, in some amusement and irony, if they had cookies.

She chuckled aloud, regretted it instantly, then moaned in pain. "Shit," she groused at herself, she should know better.

"Alyx," Jarod asked with real concern in his voice and on his visage.

"Making myself laugh at stupid things not recommended," she informed him, tone wry.

He smiled and sipped his drink. "I still don't understand why you get headaches. Given your powers are all energy based, you should just simply draw in more energy to compensate for extreme usage. Anything within your mental range should be doable with little or no discomfort to yourself." His look so serious she had no reason to doubt him. "And pain, unless you are somehow physically damaging the neurons and synapses, which shouldn't be possible given they work via the same energy you use for your abilities, should not be the result for something so simple as extending your reach a bit. All of this," he waved at the estate about them, "was well within your range, even if you did need to split your attention a dozen ways. I could, maybe, see pain caused by an overuse of the Quicksilver, but I would expect it to be more like muscle aches due to your body trying to generate more than you have in immediate storage."

Alyx blinked, his words stunning her. They made perfect sense and yet… and yet she couldn't seem to believe him. Going over it carefully, her head still pounding loud enough to wake the dead, she worked through it one step at a time until she came to the only logical conclusion. "More programming?"

"That would be my guess. When your alt took over your abilities increased dramatically, at least from one perspective. You told me they tried power experiments with a neurotransmitter enhancement drug."

She nodded. She could see where he was going with this crazy train of thought, but could not seem to get to the conclusion on her own, which suggested that they had blocked her ability to see, or perhaps believe if told, that the pain she currently felt was all in her head… literally. Psychosomatic programming. Hell, given her unwillingness to use her abilities at all, she had probably made it worse, the pain coming sooner and more forcefully if she personally thought she'd gone too far.

"The drug, while real, is probably the equivalent of a placebo, it triggers your alts to come out to play. Possibly different dosages cued to different personas. I'd need the full data set to know for certain, but I don't see any reason why the programming can't be broken and the personas blocked. You would be you and at full power. Imagine what you could do."

She admired his enthusiasm, which she could see under the serious expression, but failed utterly to agree with him. "But who am I?" she asked.

He opened his mouth on an instant, and probably incorrect response, then stopped to truly think about her question.

"I'm better off with the control in place." A stabbing pain thrust up the back of her skull, convincing her that knowledge of this control programming was a definite no-no. Well, she'd take the damn pain  _and_  the knowledge. There was no way in hell that this time around ignorance was bliss.

He shook his head. "No, you're not, but you are stuck in a Catch 22. I think the programming is part of why you have trouble holding on to you without the connection to Darien." He gave her a broad grin. "But we'll work on that… together."

She nodded carefully, agreeing with him. Not that she minded relying on Darien's perception of her, but it would be easier if she didn't have to. "How much longer?" Knowing about the programming did nothing to actually ease the pain, at least not until she had the chance to break it, so she still needed meds and sleep to be able to think clearly again.

"The local ATF has been contacted and once I detailed our adventure they, as you suspected, took a sudden interest in this case and are en route as we speak. The situation rated a helicopter, so we need to hang until they arrive and I brief them," a snort of amusement escaped from Alyx at the turn of phrase, which made Jarod smile, "but once done we can probably escape for a while. I already emailed them my initial report, I won't need to do much more than turn the scene over to them and fill in any blanks they might have."

She looked at the maps in her head. "Ugh, I may yet take that EMT up on his offer of phenol," she stated. Typical painkillers wouldn't do her much good, but they could get the pain to back off a bit, which was all she really wanted right now.

Jarod frowned. "That bad?"

"Yep. I'm afraid knowing it isn't real, doesn't make it hurt any less." Another warning shot across her bow made her visibly flinch. "Makes it worse in fact."

"Programmed to not know about it as well," he summed up. "I'll stop poking it with sticks until we have a chance to break it, I fear I'm doing more harm than good." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her, waving at her nose.

"Shit," she muttered as she took it, the taste of blood on her tongue again. He took the cup from her as she pressed the cloth to her upper lip. "Why would they do this too me?" she mumbled through the cloth. "I'm not that dangerous am I?"

Jarod laughed, but it was dark and scary. "Michele, in defense of those you wish to protect… yes, you can be very dangerous, but that is how it should be."

What kept her from being upset at his statement was the complete and total lack of fear in his mien. He had no problems with her being dangerous, in fact, probably preferred it, she'd be useless to him if she folded anytime things got serious. "Fair enough."

"Rest," he ordered. "If you get too cold I'll find you a place inside to crash. It may be a crime scene, but I doubt anyone will care at this point."

"Be nice, the locals are helping; don't rub their noses in their sad case of obliviousness. It'll make them cranky."

Jarod chuckled. "Understood." He set her cup on the dash and then turned at the sound of his name being called. "I'll be back."

"Go, I'll survive."

"I know." Then as he walked away, "It's what we were designed to do."

 

**Mountain High Resort**

**Eureka, Montana**

 

_My favorite purveyor of quotes once wrote, "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." He's right, too. Those feelings, behaviors,_ _**things** _ _it brings out in me are always there, simmering just below the surface and waiting for its time to reach a full boil and spill over onto all those around me._

_Guess that should teach me to not bottle those things up, huh?_

_Well, lesson learned._

 

He never got that cheeseburger.

In fact, the sun had set by the time they arrived back at the resort, far too many hours after the first real symptoms had made their dramatic appearance. Darien had remained on the sidelines as much as possible, leaving Hobbes to deal with the locals as they got all their ducks in a row and transport for the bad guys arranged. It turned out to be a complicated mess jurisdiction-wise, until a lone ATF agent arrived to take over in Agent Miner's name. The State Police hadn't minded too much given they'd been totally in the dark about what had been going on all but under their noses. Once Hobbes had given a verbal report of events, with a promise of full paperwork to be filled out later, they'd been permitted to leave.

Darien had been miserable by then, the madness symptoms coming and going with little rhyme or reason. He had no warning before a seizure would hit, the pain impressive and exceeding the levels had become accustomed to over the years. Whatever good the toxin inhibitor had done, erased by the unexpected complications. He knew he'd gone off the deep end into madness, but had no idea how far, the monitor still insisting he had only one segment red, which meant... He had no clue what that meant, but the sooner they got back to the resort and the supply of Counteragent the better.

Hobbes shut the door with a quiet click, stuffing his cell back into his pocket. "Fawkes, they're on the way back, should be here in an hour or so."

Sure they were. They'd finished their part long ago, no reason for it to take so damn long for them to make it back to the resort. Alyx was supposed to be here, damn it. Here for him. Not off playing with Miner.

He growled softly, the sound vibrating in his chest and throat. "And what till then?"

"Gonna get you squared away, my friend. The kit is in your bag, ain't it?" Hobbes strode off towards the cabin's bedroom, doing the worst thing possible and turning his back on Darien.

"Squared away? You mean more drugs."

Hobbes paused, turning slightly to look over at his partner. "Yeah, Fawkes, that's how it works. You go red-eye, we give you the Counteragent."

"But I'm not red-eye, am I?" He knew he wasn't, same as he knew he had slipped into the madness. Oh, if he could just remain like this with the heightened responses, but none of the overt signs visible... oh, the damage, the lovely, lovely damage he could do.

Hobbes froze, something in Darien's voice giving the game away. That was okay, it was always more fun when the prey knew you were coming and tried to run. "Fawkes?"

He smiled, though it felt far more like an animalistic baring of his teeth. "Yes?" he asked, feigning he gave a shit what Hobbes wanted now.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, Hobbesy, I'm just fine." And he was. This… this version of him was perfect; aware of everything and afraid of nothing. In two quick strides he stood behind his friend, though that term probably did not really apply now. Bobby Hobbes had always been little more than an unwilling babysitter, keeping Darien on the straight and narrow and preventing him from doing what he really wanted.

"No, you're not," Hobbes argued, sidestepping Darien's attempt to trap him in the bedroom. "Fawkes, I won't do nothing till the kid gets here," he tried in a blatant effort to placate him.

Darien wasn't about to fall for it.

"No," Darien growled, low and threatening, "you won't."

Hobbes' eyes widened, but he had no chance to do anything else. Darien's fisted hand shot upwards, catching him on the jaw, the blow more than enough to daze him and make him stumble. Darien encouraged him to continue his downward motion with a shove that knocked him even further off balance and towards the solid floor.

Hobbes turned to look up as he tried to gather himself, Darien looming dangerously over him. "Fawkes, what the hell?"

Darien's answer was to aim a kick at the prone man's head, but, while down, Hobbes was far from out. He managed to twist onto his back and grab Darien's foot as it sailed past his nose, missing by mere inches. He managed to catch it by the heel and encourage it to swing even higher. Too high.

While Darien had worked hard to compete with Alyx in limberness, he hadn't been prepared or situated so that he could compensate for the additional momentum. His one leg high, setting him off balance, Hobbes managed a wild kick that connected with Darien's other leg, causing him to go over backwards and onto the floor with solid thwack. He managed to slap his hands down to absorb some of the force, but the back of his skull still bounced off the wood floor hard enough to fog his sight for several long moments.

By the time reality swung back into focus Hobbes had made it to his knees, one hand on the wall in support, lip bloody and a bruise already blossoming on his chin.

Darien rolled, quick as he could, but before he could get his feet under him and charge, Bobby simply drew his gun, hand steady as could be as he aimed it at his partner. "Fawkes, stand down," he ordered in no uncertain terms.

"What? You going to shoot me?" Darien sneered, shifting to get his feet under him, keeping the motion slow, steady and nonthreatening. "Make certain you aim for the head... it's the only way you'll be able to stop me." He held still, watching Bobby carefully, not really wanting to see if he would actually follow through with the threat. Darien needed to be able-bodied when Alyx returned, or his plans would be all for naught.

"Oh, I don't know, a bullet to the thigh might keep you busy long enough for me to get you taken care of," Hobbes growled as he cautiously levered himself to his feet, eyes and weapon never wavering from Darien.

"And risk me bleeding out, never mind the lecture from the 'Fish..." Darien shook his head. "You wouldn't."

"Don't bet on it, pal." He leaned back against the wall, plainly needing the support. "You once said you'd rather take a bullet than risk hurting anyone again, that change?"

Darien cocked his head slightly, the memory surging to the forefront of his mind. He'd told the Keeper that, not Hobbes. His partner hadn't been there at the time, which meant... "Keepy's been making with the pillow talk, huh?"

"Fawkes-"

"Don't bother, I'll deal with her... eventually." Darien felt his lips twist into a feral smile, enjoying the images flowing through his mind of what he would do to his precious Keeper next time he had her alone. "Now, Robert, I highly suggest you put the gun down or I may be forced to injure you far more seriously than I'd prefer."

Hobbes blinked. "Robert? Fawkes, since when do you..." He trailed off his expression hardening. "Damn," he muttered, "there ain't gonna be no reasoning with you."

Darien chuckled. "Nope," he agreed.

"Why? Why do this?" Hobbes questioned.

Darien shrugged, knowing there would be nothing Robert could do to stop him even if he did tell all; in fact, it would make it more fun. Poor Hobbes knowing what would be coming and unable to do anything to prevent it. His conscience torturing him more than Darien ever could. "Because I don't want you interfering."

"Interfering with what?"

Darien slowly shifted into a crouch, watching Hobbes' eyes carefully for any signs that he might actually be willing to pull the trigger. "With what I plan to do, of course," he answered, making certain to drag this out as long as possible, waiting for an opening.

Hobbes rolled his eyes. "Cut the bullshit, Fawkes, and just tell me."

"But where's the fun in that." Darien launched forward, the muscle he'd built and maintained over the years giving him more than enough thrust to close the distance in one leap. One hand curled about the wrist holding the gun, smashing it back into the wall, the other driving two stiffened fingers into Hobbes' diaphragm, causing all his air to leave in an audible whoosh, the gun dropping to the floor from fingers no longer able to hold onto the weapon. Hobbes doubled over gasping for air while Darien calmly bent down to pick up the gun. He hefted it, enjoying the feel of the solid metal in his hand.

He patted Hobbes on the cheek, his face a deep red and mouth gaping like a fish out of water, not yet capable of drawing in a breath of air. "Hobbesy, you should have just shot me." Darien placed his hand on his partner's face, reminiscent of palming a basketball and slammed the back of his skull into the wall, the body going instantly limp. He tipped his head, eyes narrowing as he watched the man on the floor, debating the merits of another blow to assure continued unconsciousness, but after a single whooping intake of air, there was no other response, assuring him that the single love tap had been more than hard enough.

Now, what to do with the body.

Though it wasn't really a body yet, was it?

He debated the merits of finishing the deed, which would assure Hobbes' non-interference in what he had planned, but decided it wouldn't be worth the effort. No, a judicious use of duct tape and shoving him in a corner would do for now.

Darien stuffed the gun into the back of his pants and headed for Alyx's bag where the supplies he needed would most certainly be.

 


	7. Chapter 7

"We're almost there," Jarod assured her, setting a hand on her thigh and squeezing gently.

"That's what you keep saying yet we never seem to actually get there." She tried to interject amusement into the words, but was pretty certain she'd missed the mark given how he whipped his head about to look at her. "That bad, huh?"

"You sound like utter shit, Alyx," he informed her, as he slowed and turned up the road that ultimately led to the resort. Behind them one of the dogs whined softly, in full agreement of Jarod's assessment of her current state.

"Well, since I feel like utter shit..." She didn't bother finishing, the humor was decidedly lacking and she had become aware that she was slurring her words badly. She couldn't remember the last time that she hurt so much. She'd done a lot of overdoing it the last few months, but nothing on the scale of what she had done today and, if what Jarod said was true, this headache, this aching numbness, this excruciating pain that kept her from stringing more than a few words together at once, was not real. That if she could only believe hard enough, the pain would vanish and she would have untold amounts of power at her immediate disposal.

Right now, she would, no matter how she feared having all that power at her beck and call, take it just to make the pain go away. She moaned, one hand going to her forehead as if in an effort to keep her brain from bursting through her skull and across the dashboard in front of her.

Oh, what a lovely mental image that was.

"Will you take care of the boys tonight?"

"The boys?" Jarod questioned in obvious confusion. "Oh, the dogs. Um, sure, but they probably would prefer to be with you."

"Agreed, but I really don't think either of my partners would appreciate being mauled, no matter how pretty the dog." Never mind that she most certainly did not have the wherewithal to play with their minds and make them all lovely-dovey with strangers right now. She'd deal with that when her brains no longer wanted to ooze out of her ears.

Jarod snorted softly. "You may have a point there. I'll get them settled at my cabin and check in with you in about thirty minutes."

"No need-"

"Yes need. You are hurt, bad enough that you keep getting bloody noses, I'll grab my kit and swing by to make certain none of the damage is permanent. Besides, isn't Fawkes in need of assistance with his... problem."

She knew Jarod was correct and kind of hated that fact. Damn, the man learned fast. "Well, hopefully Hobbes has taken care of that, but, yes, your assistance would be appreciated... if only by me."

"Good, especially since I wasn't going to take no for an answer." He slowed the jeep to a stop before her cabin. "Want me to walk you in?"

She shook her head, regretting it almost instantly, as her stomach roiled in irritation. "No, I'll be fine." She unbuckled then turned about to look at the dogs. "Behave. Do as Jarod says and hurt no one." She couldn't force the orders into their minds and could only hope the words would be enough.

"Go. They'll be fine," he assured her.

And they would be, she knew that, but it would seem that part of her had no real interest in walking into the cabin and facing what most certainly would be a wrothful Darien Fawkes. Even if he had indeed been dosed with Counteragent those concerns about her and Jarod would still be present and would remain until she could sit him down and explain the situation in detail. Something that would not happen in her current condition. She needed to curl up and die, preferably in Darien's arms, for a few hours and let the world settle about her. Placating a pissy boyfriend was not something she wanted to deal with right now.

She slid out the door, not liking the fact she needed the support even after her feet had hit the ground and thought she was steady. "Do not run off on me Jarod, we still have much to discuss."

The solemn look on his face would have normally made her smile at its seriousness, but now she could only appreciate his willingness to allow her to see the emotions she could no longer feel. "I said I'd be by in thirty minutes and that is what I intend to do."

She nodded, attempting to give him a grateful smile, but pretty much gave it up as a bad job when yet another ice pick drove into the back of her skull. Those not-so-subtle warnings becoming actual demands at this point. "Thanks," she told him, meaning so much more than this moment.

"Welcome. Now go. Before your partners decide to hunt me down for commandeering all of your time." He pointed at the direction of the cabin door and with a soft sigh she nodded, not surprised that he had figured out that she was reluctant to go face the music, and knowing that she had to.

She grabbed her bag from the foot well, slung it over one shoulder and shut the door, the engine rumbling softly in the cold air, Jarod planning on sitting there to make certain she got into the building without falling on her face in the snow. Wrapping what little strength that remained about her like a heavy cloak, she cautiously strode over the trampled snow of the walk and up the short flight of steps. She turned back around once she had reached the door to give Jarod a wave, assuring him that she had made it intact, which, admittedly, had been debatable. Opening the door she walked into the welcome warmth of the cabin.

While she had expected to see the boys awaiting her arrival, she was not overly concerned when she found the main room empty. She dropped her bag on the sofa and shed the heavy winter wear, leaving it in a pile on one of the cushions. She'd deal with it later. Toeing off the boots as she walked she headed for the lone bedroom where she had left her suitcase, when she noticed her small black case sitting on the dining table amongst the various files and notes they had left behind. With an audible groan of relief she made a beeline for the case, her intention nothing more than to dose herself and collapse. Yet, she paused, the seemingly empty cabin causing concern to make its way to the forefront of her mind.

She had hoped the boys would be here, wanting the company, and to make certain Darien was all right, so she stepped past the table and to the bedroom, wondering if maybe they'd decided to take a nap or something, only to find the room empty. The concern flared higher.

She wished she could feel a thing, then she'd just be able to reach out and sense where they were, but that was not an option, least not until she took some meds. Pulling out her phone she sent a quick text to both men, just to let them know she'd made it back to the cabin intact, so, given the echoing silence about her, was surprised when the distinctive tones of both phones went off nearby.

"Darien? Bobby?" The place wasn't that big, which meant there weren't all that many places to hide. And while the tone for Bobby's phone had sounded muffled, Darien's had not, suggesting he was in the room with her.

A sudden sharp pain in the back of her neck caused her to grunt and damn near go to her knees. Reaching up she found a syringe sticking out of her, and removed it with care. Looking at it she recognized it as one of hers, roughly half the contents missing, most likely now in her, which could be a good thing since it appeared she was under attack.

Provided she managed to stay conscious, of course.

Turning about, the room spinning in a dizzying manner, she watched as the Quicksilver flaked off Darien, a wary gaze on his features as he looked at her. "Darien?" she questioned, feeling like an utter fool. She'd known something had gone wrong with the Quicksilver, the toxin, the monitor… or any combination thereof, but as Bobby had assured her things had been under control, she hadn't questioned his lack of communication for the last hour. Had stupidly assumed everything must be all right with a no news is good news mentality. An idiotic mistake that she would be paying for in the near future, she was quite certain of that.

She swayed, the half dose of painkiller easing the pain even as it made the world swim about her. "Crap," she mumbled, the syringe falling from her nerveless grip to bounce off the hardwood of the floor.

Darien was there then, a hand curling about her upper arm, too tightly admittedly, but with the strength she needed to remain upright. He didn't say anything, just gazed down at her with an icy expression on his features.

"What..." she shook her head in a vain attempt to clear it, between the pain and the drugs she barely knew which way was up at the moment.

"Feeling a tad mortal are we?" His voice lacked any emotion, colder than the darkest reaches of deep space, not that she'd ever been there, but the theories all bore out the fact that space was damn cold when not near a star.

Oh, fuck. She had better get her act together or a very Quicksilvermad Invisible Man would be taking her apart one piece at a time with very little resistance from her. "No more so than usual," she answered tartly. Well, she tried for tart, but was pretty certain she had missed when he laughed at her. "What do you want, Darien?" As if she didn't know, but the longer she dragged this out the better the chance someone might just happen by and rescue her. Not that she was fond of playing the role of damsel in distress, but right now she was kind of stuck with it.

"What do I want?" he echoed, head cocking to the side and a sick smile adorning his normally handsome features. "I want what so many others seem to get but me: your undivided attention."

A wash of heat flowed across her, the sedative's second stage kicking in, making her unable to support her own weight, slight as it was. Her knees buckled, leaving her dangling in his hold. "Well, you have it for whatever good it will do you."

He laughed bitterly, releasing his grip so that she fell. She just barely managed to get her arms down to prevent her head from striking the floor. If it had she would have been out and that... that would probably be very bad. The gods only knew what Darien would do to her if she were do to something as foolish as pass out. No, he wanted her awake, wanted her to listen to his every word and not be able to get away. Why else only give her a half dose of her meds? Granted he probably did not know how bad off she was pain-wise, but even if not sense-blind and in pain, the drug would knock her for a loop and make her eminently malleable. A toy for his currently twisted mind to play with.

On this occasion the drug worked to her advantage: easing the pain, which might actually allow her to use her abilities to some small degree.

Reaching down he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. "You think this is funny?"

He let go, her limp body collapsing onto the fake fur rug at the foot of the beds. "Yeah, just rolling in laughter over here," she snarked, just lying there for the moment, trying to gather her scrambled wits about her. She needed to be calm if she stood any hope of talking her way out of this mess she'd gotten into.

With a casual seeming swipe he backhanded her hard enough to rock her head to the side and make her vision go dark for long moments. She forced her eyes to remain open in an effort to stay conscious. She could taste blood on her tongue and suspected he'd split her lip with the single blow. Damn, he was angry with her. She suspected she knew why, but also knew better than to jump ahead to the finale. No, Darien had planned this out with utter care and if she stepped all over his plans, she'd be in far more danger than she currently was.

With some serious effort she levered her body into a seated position, the blow actually having cleared away some of the cobwebs with the rush of adrenaline it had given her. "Nice," she groused. "Thanks for that."

"Least of what you deserve," he stated, crouching down in front of her.

"Perhaps," she agreed. She took a moment to relax, eyes never leaving him, then cautiously opened her shields in an effort to garner even the slightest hint of his intent. It hurt and gained her nothing, that wall in his mind still firmly in place. She sighed softly and tried to shift, but weakness still invaded her body, making her regret the addition of the muscle relaxant in the drug cocktail she'd whipped together. "Sorry, I screwed up. Care to tell me how this time?"

Darien growled deep in his chest, the sound vibrating the air between them. "You seem to have gotten awfully cozy with Miner."

She shrugged. "If you say so."

His hand whipped out and caught her across the face again, knocking her on her side with a vocal groan of pain. Once the world came back into focus it took three tries to sit back up, her arms collapsing, unable to support her weight for what would normally be a simple task. She spat out a mouthful of blood, her tongue finding the cut in her cheek where the soft flesh had been forced into her teeth.

"So, what now? More hitting? Some less than willing sex? Or are you actually going to tell me what I've supposedly done now?"

She was tired, hell, exhausted and not just because of the long day, but of the constant battle of wills, of trying everything in her power to make him believe in her... in them and always losing. He remained convinced that one day she would up and walk out of his life, turning her back on them... on him. No matter what she said, she did, deep down he could not seem to understand that simple truth.

She was here... she lived because of him. She would never walk out on that.

She managed to not flinch, albeit barely, when he reached out and cupped her chin with surprisingly gentle fingers. "I just want to understand," he said softly.

"Understand what?" she asked, not entirely certain where he was going with this.

He leaned in close, his breath hot against her cheek. "Why me?"

"Why not you." Not the best response, perhaps, but the only one she had at the moment. She set her hand over his, not trying to stop him or use her abilities to get through to him, but just to make contact, hoping he wouldn't pull away. "Darien, I made my choices and I will stand by them, but you... us, that was never a choice. It just  _was_ , and nothing you say or do will make me regret that."

He closed his eyes for a long moment, body shuddering with conflicting emotions, fighting the Madness, she suspected. But it was quite obvious who had won when he opened his eyes. "You lie," he hissed, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her upright, the pain a bright fire across the back of her skull.

He tossed her onto one of the beds with such force that she damn near rolled off the far side, only his hold on her keeping her from tumbling face first onto the floor. Closing her eyes, she sucked in a deep breath, wishing she hadn't hurt him so deeply that he'd lost all faith in her. Normally he kept these fears buried deep, reveling in the time they had together, but this... this had to have been simmering below the surface for a very long time, the Madness bringing it to the surface in all its brilliant, and pain filled glory.

She was not going to get out of this on her own. With a whimper she focused, on that newly awakened link between her and Jarod and managed a pitiful, * _Help_ ,* before Darien made certain to draw her attention back to him.

He kissed her, hard, teeth coming down on her already bloody lip, and though instinct demanded that she throw him off her by any means necessary, she instead surrendered, not about to give him what he thought he wanted: her hating him. So she gave him what he needed ever more desperately every day it seemed, her undivided and willing attention.

The change registered immediately on him, his mouth softening on hers, the tenseness in his body flowing away like water. He was no less dangerous, but the urge to seriously injure her had been momentarily been deflected. When he lifted his head to look down at her, his eyes had turned crimson, the toxin having decided to show itself finally. She was no fool and had known he was well into Stage 4 based on his behavior and suspected that the new inhibitor had been cause of the oddball symptoms.

Knowing this put her in no less danger, but if her message had gotten through she would only need to distract him for a few more minutes. "Darien," she breathed, thankful he was here with her no matter the circumstances. She just wished she could show him.

His look hardened and she threw caution and common sense to the wind. She threw the door to that link between them open wide, ignoring the sudden rush of blood from her nose, set gentle fingers on his cheek, and just let him feel all that she did. He could deny her feelings with words all he wished, but not this, this rush of pure and true emotion that encompassed all she felt for him.

He levered himself onto his forearms, eyes closing as that wall he'd put up crumbled to dust. He froze for a long moment, his face a raw mask of pain, then he shoved away from her with a snarl; the door slamming shut and practically knocking her into unconsciousness with the force of it. "No, stay out of my head. No more tricks." He stalked away, leaving her lying there feeling broken and abused inside and out.

"Then what you do want?" she asked, words barely a whisper in the air. She wished she could make him understand that there was nothing she wouldn't do for him.  _Nothing_.

"To not want you the way that I do," he roared, utter and complete frustration coloring his features. Those red eyes bore into her, but she held no fear of him. "To not miss you every moment of every day we are apart. To not need you to live." He stalked the breadth of the room, hands clenching into white-knuckled fists over and over again, the neatly trimmed nails digging into the palms of his hands deep enough to leave bloody crescent moons behind.

"You think I don't feel the same," she responded, voice still so very soft. Now that she lay still, she really no longer wished to move, the drugs working as advertised, easing the pain and allowing her mind to slow its seeming constant movement. Dear lord, how she missed just being able to sleep, but those gifts she'd had bestowed upon her made it unnecessary and unneeded, able to remain awake and functional far longer than any human had been intended.

"How could you?" he argued. "You still leave."

"But I always come back." The truth, and it made him freeze in place, head snapping about to meet her eyes. "Even when everything is against me... against us, I come back." Instead of sliding into that sleep she so wanted, she rolled onto her side and forced her abused body to sit up. "And I always will." She held up her right hand, the ring he had given her adorning the third finger. "I'm sorry I can't be what you want, that I can't change that part of me... no matter how much I may want to..." She reached for a tissue from the box on the nightstand and daubed at nose, just thrilled at the blood. Lose any more and she'd be down for the count from frickin' blood loss, great, just great.

"But you still leave," he repeated, though the statement was less angry and more mournful this time.

She wadded up the tissue and tossed it away, then got up, the room swaying about her in a decidedly unfriendly manner, and walked over to him. "But I don't want to."

His hand shot out, wrapping about her throat, tight enough to feel it, but not so much that her air was cut off. "Prove it," he snarled, voice little more than a low growl in his chest.

She opened her mouth to answer, but he had tightened his grip so that her response remained trapped inside. Another voice, however, surprised her.

_*We're coming,*_  Jarod's cool, controlled mind impinged on hers, with more than just the words, but images, a quick burst of information that made her thankful of the link forged between them.

He had heard her call for help and responded. Jarod and Bobby had a plan, they just needed her to do what she did best and play distraction.

Not that she would make much of one, weak as a kitten, drugged, and being slowly suffocated by the man she cared most about in the world, but she would do what had become their mantra on this job: fake it.

"You first," she ground out, not having a clue if the challenge could even be understood verbally, so she backed it up with the mental equivalent of a sledgehammer, slamming her way past that wall, if only for an instant.

Her words seemed to shock him, as if he had never considered the fact that she might worry about him leaving her. That while gone on some mission he would find someone else and she would come home to... emptiness, loss, loneliness, a life without him.

His grip loosened and she dropped to the floor, unable to remain upright, and began coughing as her body realized she could once again take in much needed oxygen. She had held the link to Jarod open, so he could see what she did, and the instant she was down and out of the line of fire, Jarod and Hobbes charged the door, surging into the room, Bobby tackling Darien down to the floor. Once down, Jarod moved in and swiftly injected the contents of a syringe he held in his hand into the muscle of Darien's thigh.

Darien screamed and thrashed, flinging Hobbes off of him and into the bureau, but it was already too late. Instead of jumping atop him again, both Hobbes and Jarod backed away, giving the sedatives a chance to work instead of engaging the madman in hand to hand combat in such a confined space.

Jarod went to Alyx, standing over her, a fierce protectiveness rolling off him that made her want to laugh in hysterics. In what? Three days the man had gone from complete stranger to her guardian. Like she needed another overprotective older brother.

Darien snarled, trying to get to his feet, using the end of the bed to support his efforts to stand, but the sedative, one of hers she was certain, would not be denied. He stumbled, one leg collapsing beneath him, eyes rolling wildly.

Alyx surged to her feet, slipping about Jarod, across the bed and onto the floor next to Darien, wrapping her arms about him and holding him close to prevent him from hurting himself as he fought the drugs. "Easy, sweets." She tipped her head down, letting him see that it was her and no one else. "You can let go now," she told him, "I'm here."

Darien whimpered, a flailing hand that she grasped with hers, the grip more than tight enough to cause pain, welcome pain at this point. He fought another moment, then sighed softly, his entire body going limp in her arms.

Alyx didn't hesitate for an instant. "Bobby, the kit and Counteragent, quickly."

"Yeah, kid." He got to his feet, a goose egg on his forehead where he'd hit the bureau, and headed to his bag, rummaging about until he found the kit and tossed it to her. "Counteragent's in the fridge, I'll be right back with it."

She nodded then turned to Jarod. "Think you can get him up on the bed?"

Jarod's gaze roamed over the long, lanky form, clearly planning his attack. "Yeah, lemme just..." He scooted down past the end of the bed, to stand behind her as she shifted out from under Darien, which allowed Jarod to grasp the unconscious man under the shoulders and heave the dead weight body onto the nearest bed. Together they got the limp man situated in a relatively comfortable position.

Alyx went to work immediately, opening the kit and removing what looked like a standard diabetes monitor. Without preamble, she stuck one of Darien's fingers into the opening and let the machine do it's job. The numbers that came back disturbed her greatly. Darien wasn't just in Stage Four, he was damn near Stage Five. "Bobby, hurry up."

"I'm coming, kid." And he was there in the doorway, the gray bag in his hand.

"Alyx?" Jarod asked in concern.

"In a minute, please. In fact, could use your help."

"Certainly."

She removed an empty, clean syringe from the kit and held it out to him. "I need a blood sample, and right now I can't focus, so if you would..." She gestured at Darien's arm.

He set a hand over hers. "How bad?" he asked, the look in his eyes pained.

Hobbes growled under his breath and she sighed heavily. "Bobby, for fuck's sake, Jarod is my... brother. Could you save your righteous wrath for later."

"B... b... brother? Holy shit, kid." He looked as stunned as he sounded. He handed over the bag, looking down at his partner. "How is he?"

"Nearly Stage Five," Alyx informed him. "Need you to do the blood draw now, Jarod, need a sample so the Keep can figure out what went wrong this time."

"Tourniquet?" he requested, letting go of her hand.

She handed one over, waiting with impatience for the vein to stand up, and Jarod to complete his task, the syringe full to the brim. He capped the needle and held it out to Hobbes. "Needs to be refrigerated, ASAP."

Hobbes nodded and took the syringe, trotting back towards the kitchen.

Alyx pulled out a pre-filled syringe of Counteragent, hoping to god it would actually work. Whatever had gone wrong might very well interfere with the Counteragent's ability to flush the toxin from his system. The amount of toxin in his system  _should_  be the same, how quickly it had been released into his system had changed, not his tolerance to it's effects. She slid the needle into the vein so recently vacated and slowly pressed down the plunger. She maintained a steady pressure, not wanting to shock his system any more than necessary, still, the instant she removed the needle, Darien's entire body convulsed, much to Jarod's shock, and he moved to hold the man in place.

"Alyx?"

"Normal, or whatever facsimile we live with these days." She knew she sounded tired, and maybe resigned, but after the last few days she felt deserving of those feelings.

"You're hurt," Jarod observed, releasing Darien as the convulsions eased and he relaxed onto the covers.

"I am, but I will soldier on," she told him, wanting nothing more than to curl up next to Darien and fall into a deep dreamless slumber. Instead, she carefully lifted one of his eyelids, sighing in relief to see the whites had returned to normal, and a fair sign that the Counteragent had actually worked. Maybe not flushing all the toxin, but enough to knock it back below Stage Two, and that would be good enough for now. She lifted his right hand, turning it over to examine the monitor buried beneath the skin of his wrist. It still showed one red and nine green, which she knew to be a lie.

"That the monitor?" Jarod asked quietly.

"Yep, only it ain't working to spec." She closed her eyes, not that the blurry eyesight was doing her much good anyway, to focus on the microchip and power source within. It seemed to be working fine, but when she ran her fingers across it, pressing down just hard enough to feel the chip beneath the skin, the power sputtered and flared, causing Darien's fingers to twitch and curl in response. "A short appears to be the issue," she said aloud and then shut the small device off. She opened her eyes to see that the serpent's eye had changed from green to red, signaling that it was indeed offline.

"A short? How?" Jarod shook his head. "When the coffee maker bit him, of course, but that wouldn't cause all his normal symptoms to disappear, would it?"

She couldn't help herself and smiled at his word choice. "No. I suspect the new inhibitor is that cause of those issues."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Hobbes asked. She hadn't even realized he'd come back to the room.

"Yes. No more inhibitor until we figure out what went wrong, though," she told him, exhaustion crashing down on her shoulders like the bricks of an imploding building.

"You need to sleep, kid," Hobbes told her, making it sound far more like an order than a statement.

"Not until I examine you. You might very well have a concussion." Jarod managed a stubborn look and she nodded in acquiescence.

"You okay, Bobby?" she asked, as Jarod left to gather his gear.

"Yeah, kid. He was gentle compared to what he did to you. You're a mess." He moved to stand next to her, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You two need to talk. Really talk or this is just gonna keep happening."

She patted his hand. "I know. I just... right now I can't." Her words were pleading, trying to get across that it wasn't something under her rational control.

"Ah, kid, you're messed up good, ain't ya?"

She laughed bitterly. "That's putting it mildly."

Jarod saved her from any additional comments by returning with what looked like a full medical kit, stethoscope about his neck. All he needed was a lab coat to complete the look.

"How many?" she asked, knowing that Jarod would understand, while Hobbes remained blissfully in the dark.

"Several," he assured her with a wan smile, "and damn good ones too."

She nodded and set about to roll up her sleeve almost thankfully because once he had completed this examination she would finally be able to give up the reins and fall asleep.

 

~^~

 

Once certain Alyx would remain out - she had spent a fair thirty minutes jerking awake to gaze about the room blindly before sliding back under - he left the bedroom for the living area of the cabin where he found Hobbes holding a snowball against the lump on his forehead. "Your turn."

Hobbes shook his head. "I'm good... and you are not a doctor." His eyes narrowed, wariness taking over his features.

Jarod shrugged. "I have been, a few times."

Hobbes shook his head. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means I've been trained to do a lot of things and I do them all very well... much like Michele."

Hobbes blinked, hand holding the snow lowering as he tried to absorb the meaning of his words. "You mean you learn like the kid?"

"More the other way around. She learns like I do." Jarod waited for the agent to absorb that, watching him carefully.

Hobbes sat silent for several minutes, working over everything he'd learned the last few days. It was obvious when he had come to a conclusion. "So, if I've got this straight, she's part of The Centre's projects as well?"

Jarod had suspected that Hobbes had forgotten little of their discussion the previous day. While Jarod had asked more questions than answered, he'd still made certain to warn Hobbes about The Centre and the fact that they would be coming after her... eventually. "That she is, one named Oracle."

Hobbes snorted softly. "So that's why she can do that. Keepy always wondered."

"This Keeper, she cares for them?" Jarod asked, needing to understand, even after so short a time he felt fiercely protective of her, much like he did for all his newfound family. Sadly, in her case he also felt responsible. If hadn't been what he was then The Centre would never have taken steps to recreate him. Then again, if he hadn't been who he was she never would have existed, and he had to admit he liked having her around.

"That too. She's more in charge of the gland in Fawkes' head than Alyx, but she's pretty much the only doctor able to deal with their special circumstances." Hobbes rubbed the top of his head, regretting it based on the wince when he hit one of the many bruises that Fawkes had given him. "Kid, assists with the research more than anything. Hell, she's gone more often than she's home these days."

"But she always comes back," Jarod stated.

"Yeah, even when the odds are stacked against her, she always comes back." He grimaced. "I'd like that to continue."

Jarod frowned. "That may not be possible. In all honesty I was going to recommend that she run. Not with me," he added quickly, sensing that would go over like a ton of lead bricks. "It's how I've managed to stay free for as long as I have." He leaned back, rubbing his temple, wondering exactly how much to tell the agent. "And I've been caught a few times, as well."

"But you've managed to escape," Hobbes stated.

"Because I am smarter than them." It wasn't pride, but simple truth, and Hobbes seemed to understand that.

"Good, then you should be able to get the kid what she needs," Hobbes stated, look hard.

Jarod felt confused, not having a clue what Hobbes meant. "What she needs?"

"Yeah, leverage."

Jarod rubbed his face with one hand, feeling suddenly tired. He knew Hobbes had a point, but Jarod had no clue what it could be. "Leverage?"

"Yeah, you know dirt, something the kid can hold over these Centre mooks to keep 'em at bay," Hobbes elaborated, which cleared up the confusion.

"Ah, that kind of leverage," Jarod summed up. Had to admit it wasn't a half bad idea, though said leverage would need to be really good to keep The Centre from coming after her. "I honestly don't know that would do any good."

"Can't hurt. Look, one thing I've learned over the years is that it's always a matter of leverage. The right amount used at the right time and you can get anything you want done." Bobby must have been feeling better as he had got up and paced the room as he warmed to his subject. "Like this case, Goodrowe had just the right leverage to get Hurst to do what he wanted. Or Alyx and the Official, they have a bit of leverage on each other and both try to keep it that way. Or Fawkes for that matter. The boss has a major bit of leverage on him. Well, had. Kid took care of  _that_  problem."

"You mean blackmail."

Hobbes shrugged. "Same thing, different perspective."

Jarod chuckled, hard to deny that. And he had a very good point, with the right... leverage he should be able to get The Centre to leave even him alone. "That is not a bad idea, but will take some serious digging." He frowned slightly. Digging into The Centre usually resulted in learning things better left unknown. Alyx would be discovering this to be true. "She may have some protection thanks to your agency, but if they decide they want her..."

"No stopping them, huh?"

Jarod nodded.

"Then I guess we best make sure she stays safe," Hobbes stated.

"Agreed, and as soon as you let examine you we will get to work on it," Jarod said with a serious look on his face.

Hobbes sighed, tossing the melting snowball into the kitchen sink. "Fine." He sat down on the sofa, not thrilled, but realizing he should probably submit to an exam, just in case. "Is the kid gonna be okay?"

"Her injuries will heal, and remarkably fast, I imagine, but her relationship with Darien may have suffered irreparable harm," Jarod concluded, pulling out the blood pressure cuff and gesturing for Hobbes to roll up his sleeve.

With only a soft grumble, Hobbes did as requested.

 

~^~

 

He didn't recognize the ceiling. Granted he probably should, given it looked to be made out of rough hewn logs, but it had been months since he'd last been up to the cabin in Cold Springs, work keeping him too busy to do more than call Celia every Sunday like clockwork. He often found himself wanting to go visit her, to return to the tiny mountain town where he had grown up, the town he had tried so very hard to run away from and now... now he found wanted to make a home there.

He, who had eschewed any deep and meaningful connections to... anyone for years, wanted to settle down and live that impossible happily ever after. Crazy.

He blinked, but the ceiling didn't change one whit. Damn, his brains felt scrambled. What the hell had he been doing to end up in a cabin in the woods?

No, not woods, mountains. Snowy mountains in Montana.

Ah, the stupidly named Mountain High Resort. That's where he was.

As consciousness finally took firm hold and he became aware of the physical world about him, he damn near jumped out of his skin when something moved right beside him. He turned his head slowly to see a riot of tousled red curls and the sleeping body they belonged to. He shifted, brushing the hair off her face to reveal some impressive bruising. Guilt stabbed him forcefully in the gut as he remembered slapping her across the face, not once, but twice.

"Don't wake her."

Darien's head snapped around to see Jarod Miner sitting in a chair stuffed into the corner between the bureau and the door. A bureau he seemed to recall tossing Hobbes into at some point in time. "Crap," Darien muttered, trying to get his heart rate back under control before the Quicksilver flowed. Speaking of which, he lifted his right hand to gaze at the serpent coiled there, noting the red eye, which told him Alyx had switched it off at some point in time. Probably while he had been out cold. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice soft, but with a hard edge to it.

"What she asked me to: make certain you were all right," he answered, voice just as soft, but also calm and cool. Clearly, not about to let Darien ruffle his feathers. He closed the laptop and set it aside. "You have no reason not to trust her."

Darien snorted, causing Alyx to grumble in her sleep. Fair bet she had been drugged to the nines for her to be this out cold, which meant... Which meant she'd overdone it while rescuing the Hursts. Not a big surprise, really. Though he'd then beaten the crap out of her, which put him at the top of the list of dick boyfriend of the year awards. Then again after spending the night with Miner and getting all cozy she had deserved what she'd gotten and more.

He shook his head, wanting to banish those thoughts from his head. Whatever had caused his increasingly odd behavior had clearly not been banished along with the madness, which suggested that the new inhibitor the most likely culprit, and that would not have been flushed from his system with a dose of Counteragent. Great, just fucking great.

"I have every reason not to trust her. She's a spy, and a damn good one."

Jarod frowned, not able to come up with a quick retort to that statement. "When she's with you she's not a spy, she's just Alyx. And she cares for you more than you could ever comprehend."

Darien felt his jaw clench, molars grinding against one another in his irritation. "She  _cares_  because she has no choice," he snarled, low and dangerous. He really didn't like the fact that after so short a time this... this interloper could think he had the slightest inkling about Alyx and her reasons for doing anything.

Jarod shook her head. "Look at her, battered and bruised and still she chose to lie next to you, the one who did the damage. She doesn't care, the bruises mean nothing in the grand scheme of things as far as she is concerned." He waved at the sleeping woman. "She is there because that's where she wants to be. No more. No less."

Part of Darien wanted to surge off the bed, fists and feet flailing in order to do the most damage possible to the rival sitting across the room, instead he sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He knew those thoughts and images were not part of his usual modis operandi, that whatever else the new inhibitor had screwed with it had clearly affected his judgment, especially where Alyx was concerned, but much like with the madness, he did not  _have_  to succumb, had learned through teeth gritting hard work that he could control it, and himself, if only to a certain degree. He would do that here. The problem was not Jarod, not Alyx, but Darien Fawkes, and he would deal with it. Even if it meant spending the majority of the trip home drugged.

"I think I need more than just the Counteragent," he groused, flopping back onto the bed with a sigh.

Jarod sat there silent for several minutes before asking, "Will you harm her again?"

Oh, now that was a very good question to which Darien had no solid answer. If she had been near Jarod... just the thought of that made red rage flare through him. He turned his head to look at her, still blissfully unaware of everything about her. He ran fingers along her cheek, the bruise standing out starkly against her pale skin. Part of him wanted to curl about her and snarl at Jarod, chase the rival away from what was his. "I don't think so," he finally said, sounding unconvinced even to his ears.

Jarod frowned. "Not good enough... and you know it."

Darien closed his eyes, wanting to scream that it was none of his business, but Jarod had clearly made it his business and would not back down based on the hard look adorning his features. "Yeah, I know," he agreed. "Just gimme a minute alone with her." When Jarod looked ready to argue, Darien added, "I promise I won't hurt her."

"And if you do?"

"You can beat me up and then knock me out for transport home," Darien offered in all seriousness.

"Fair enough." Jarod got to his feet, laptop in hand and left the room, only closing the door partway, not trusting Darien any more than he had to right now.

Darien rolled onto his side, head propped up so that he could look down at her. "I'm sorry, baby," he said softly.

She muttered something under her breath and snuggled in closer, pressing her face into his chest.

_'Mine,_ ' he thought,  _'all mine.'_ And she was, he remained certain of that and yet... yet he still had doubts, serious ones apparently, given the way he'd gone after her last night. He buried a hand in her hair and tipped his head down to kiss her softly, then slipped away, leaving her alone in the bed.

She shifted about for a moment, looking for him in her drug-induced slumber, then settled, with a look of discontent on her face.

Resisting the need to lie back down next to her, he ran his hands through his hair and strode from the room, finding both Jarod and Hobbes waiting for him. "She's still asleep," he told them, "and if you haven't already you best call the Keep, whatever was affecting my emotional state still is, and I doubt we have anything on hand to fix it."

"Shit. Well, it ain't from the toxin then is it?" Hobbes grouched.

"Nope. A'course I may have simply gone off the deep end on my own, but given I was fine before the new inhibitor..." Darien trailed of in sudden realization that they were discussing very top secret issues in front of someone not cleared to know. "Who read you in?" Darien asked of Jarod.

"Uh, Alyx and then Hobbes. There were, let's just say, extenuating circumstances." Jarod didn't look the least bit smug or superior, which probably meant there wouldn't be an issue.

"No worries, Fawkes, we've traded secrets and planned to fill you in as soon as you were up for it." Hobbes turned to Jarod with a grin on his lips. "If your cover is solid enough the boss would be more than happy to add you to the team."

Darien blinked. "Did you just offer him a job at the Agency?"

"Yeah, Fawkes, I did." Hobbes crossed his arms over his chest, a stubborn look on his face.

"Alyx already did," Jarod added, making Darien want to punch him in the face. Jarod turned back to Hobbes. "It would not be a viable option at this time, but I do appreciate the offer... and the confidence." He managed a smile. "I would like to be able to call on you again for assistance should I need it."

"Anytime," Hobbes assured him. "Though you might want to go through channels if it's official business. If it's personal... just call."

"Hobbes, what the hell happened while I was out?" Darien couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this confused. Yeah, the drug had messed... was still messing with his brain, but when had this whole everyone loves Jarod thing happened? Okay, so Alyx had that snowed in night to chat the man up, but Hobbes... Darien sank into a chair. "I think my head hurts."

"Given you nearly hit Stage five, it probably should," Hobbes told him.

Okay, now that was disturbing. "Stage Five? But the symptoms..."

"Probably suppressed. Alyx suspects it was due an unforeseen chemical reaction from the new toxin inhibitor," Jarod explained, rattling off the information as if an expert on the whole gland/madness situation.

Darien huffed in frustration. "Is there anything you guys didn't tell him?" Once again he was feeling like a prize lab rat instead of a person. The one thing he hated the most and here not only were his partners doing it but a total stranger.

"Lots of things, Fawkes, trust me on that. Think you can sit and listen for a bit, we've got one hell of a story to tell?"

Darien rubbed his forehead and nodded. "Might as well, not like I have anyplace else to be."

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

**Missoula Montana**

 

 

**Wayside Diner**

**Near the airport**

 

"I didn't think it could be any colder," Broots complained shivering in the comparative warmth of the diner. They'd landed with little trouble, but had been informed when picking up their rental vehicle that a lot of the roads still hadn't been cleared and they would need to wait till the morning before they could travel.

That meant an uncomfortable night at a local hotel, on The Centre's dime, thankfully, and even more thankfully separate rooms since Miss Parker had gone on an invective-filled rant of epic proportions, that hadn't calmed until surprisingly good pizza and salad had been delivered. It hadn't been all sweetness and light after that, but the bitching had dulled to tolerable levels.

He understood, he really did, but it wasn't like they had any control over the weather or the cleanup crews actually making the roads accessible. They'd done their part, discovered where Jarod was and moved to intercept him before he had a chance to move on. Granted, catching him probably wasn't very likely, but you couldn't say they hadn't tried. And really it wasn't Jarod Sydney was concerned about this time, but the girl.

They'd gone over all the DSAs available on her, along with all the Oracle project data, but unless they wanted to go seriously digging into the bowels of The Centre, there was little more to learn, at least not without alerting Mr. Lyle to their, and Jarod's, interest.

"Have you seen this," Miss Parker all but spat as she slapped the newspaper on the table, bumping the various drinks and setting them to sloshing dangerously.

"Seen what?" Sydney asked even as Broots picked up the paper and turned it over. Right there on the front page, bold as anything: ATF Breaks Up Gun Ring.

"Oh, crap," Broots muttered, scanning over the story. Looked like Jarod had stumbled on the blackmail of a gun supplier by a known black market weapons dealer. There was even a grainy photo of Jarod, standing next to woman who most likely was Miss MacTierney. He handed the paper to Sydney for him to read the bad news on his own. "If Mr. Lyle knows about this..."

"Lyle left before we did, remember?" Miss Parker pointed out, voice colder than the icy temps outside. "He probably knew as soon as it hit the AP."

"So what do we do?" Sydney asked, as he neatly folded the paper and set it aside.

"Do? Nothing? We're here for Jarod, we know nothing about the girl, remember?" Miss Parker picked up her cup and sipped the coffee, making a face at the bitter brew. "Of course, we still have to get there." She aimed a questioning look at Broots, who had become the default chauffeur, since no other members of The Centre had been authorized for this adventure.

"Four hours, more or less. Depends on traffic and road conditions. I've already programmed the GPS. We just need to load up the car and go."

"Good. Breakfast then we'll leave." Decision made, she waved for the server, whether or not anyone else was ready.

"Do... do we want to give his... them... her a heads up?" Broots asked hesitantly.

Sydney cocked his head to the side, pondering, then looked over at Miss Parker. "We could," he pointed out, "without letting him know we are here."

Miss Parker sighed heavily. "Yes, we could, but given Lyle is just as likely to try and capture him as us..." She trailed off allowing them to come to their own conclusions.

"He'd run, and before we could get there," Broots stated with confidence, wishing it weren't true.

"Exactly," Miss Parker agreed. "While I would not wish The Centre on this young woman, we don't dare compromise our mission for her sake." She spread her hands and shrugged. "Sorry, but that is the way it is."

"No need to apologize, Miss Parker, we both understand that the needs of The Centre come first." Sydney's tone may have been bland, but even Broots could here the admonishment buried within.

Miss Parker huffed. "Last I checked you were as responsible as I for the return of Jarod. Raines is going to lose patience eventually. Personally I enjoy living."

Broots turned to Sydney. "She has a point."

"Sadly, yes, she does." Sydney frowned, plainly not liking it, but more than smart enough to not risk their tenuous position at The Centre.

 

**Mountain High Resort**

**Near Eureka Montana**

 

A black car pulled up, a tall dark-haired woman exiting, gun drawn, look hard. She surveyed the area with wary eyes and headed straight for the cabin. Charging up the stairs and kicking the door open without so much as a warning. Two gunshots followed, quick and precise, then silence for long minutes.

Then she appeared in the doorway, Jarod beside her, hands cuffed behind his back, the gun jabbed unceremoniously into his ribs, blood dripping down his side. She walked him to the waiting vehicle and urged him inside, and warning him to stay put with the threat of more bodily harm.

Clearly in pain and resigned, Jarod acquiesced, remaining within while they stripped anything that might be his from the cabin. The task only took minutes, then the threesome piled back into the car and left the resort, Jarod not even attempting to get away.

Alyx found herself staring at the far wall of the bedroom, the curtains still closed over the window, keeping the daylight, if there was any given she had no idea what time it was, out. The dream pressed on her mind, the danger and urgency obvious. Still she took a moment to assess her condition and aside from lingering soreness from the bruises on her cheeks felt reasonable well. The headache, along with the attendant pain, gone and the drugs no longer in her system.

She rolled onto her back and pushed her body up until the pillows were squished between her and the headboard. Okay, so maybe the drugs weren't completely flushed from her system based on the slight disconnect between sight and movement. No rest for the wicked she supposed. Taking one moment more as she scrubbed her face in her hands, ignoring the ache of her bruised cheek and split lip, gathering her wits about her and drumming up the energy to deal with what would be coming.

Stumbling out in to the main room she found all three boys chatting, almost amiably. Granted the discussion was actually a debate about waking her so that she could eat, or allowing her sleep until she woke on her own.

"Morning, boys," she greeted, cutting off their discussion instantly.

"Alyx." Darien damn near jumped to her side, pulling her into hug for an instant, then stepping back to give her the once over. His fingers trailed delicately across the bruise on her right cheek, guilt coloring his features.

"It's okay, bub," she assured him softly, with a tiny smile that she hoped would ease his conscience, if only a little. Of course, what she was about to do might very well set him off again. He still felt wrong to her, but at least he was no longer keeping her out, not that she planned to go digging, but just being able to feel the normal flow of thoughts and emotions eased her concerns and buoyed her up.

Shifting so that she could look Jarod in the eye, she said, "They're coming."

He blinked, confusion washing across his face, before understanding dawned. "How long?"

She shrugged. "A couple hours, give or take. More than enough time for you to gather your things and make a proper retreat."

"And Lyle? Is he coming after you?" Jarod didn't seem the least bit worried about Miss Parker et al being on their way to capture him, but given what she had seen he should be. For all she knew warning him would cause him to be captured instead of saving him. There was no way to know until the moment arrived.

"I don't know," she told him.

Darien added, "She can't see about herself, only others."

It was true enough as far as things went, but while she could not see events specific to herself, she could them about those around her and with whom she might very well interact, like Max Garrett.

"Kid's good, but even she has limits, apparently," Hobbes stated. "How can we help?"

"Help? Help with what?" Jarod asked.

Alyx laughed. "With you getting away, that's what. Now, aside from the obvious packing and such, is there anything you need?" She knew it was a stupid question, they needed time more than anything, but it could not be now. They would have to carve it out from their busy lives to learn all that they needed from each other to protect themselves.

"More time," Jarod stated wryly. Then shook his head. "Nothing really, I've learned to travel light."

"But the case..."

"All my notes have been turned over to the local office, along with the request for your involvement. Your Official will have his credit, I can guarantee you that," Jarod assured them, looking about for his belongings. "I'll be back in twenty minutes with the boys." He looked straight at Alyx. "You might want to meet us outside."

She sighed. "Yeah, that would be a good idea."

"The boys?" Darien questioned sounding confused.

"Uh, I brought back some souvenirs from the Hurst estate?" She wanted desperately wanted to make light of the incident, but had no idea how. She'd reprogrammed the dogs' brains with very little effort and now she had to figure out what to do with them. She suspected if left at a pound for adoption they would pine away long before they found a home, or worse, were euthanized.

"Kid, what did you do this time?" Hobbes asked in some exasperation.

"She didn't want to hurt the dogs, so she swayed them to our side," Jarod answered, quite plainly trying to make a difficult situation easier on her. He winked at her. "She just did it better than she had planned."

"Dogs?" Darien asked. "Like guard dogs?"

Alyx nodded. "Three Rottweilers. I have yet to figure out what to do with them." She tipped her head slightly. "You sure you don't want at least one? I'm pretty sure he'd be effective in keeping your friends at bay."

"Or some early warning when needed," Hobbes added.

Jarod smiled thinly. "While I can appreciate the suggestion and do see the potential, I can't. It would simply give them one more way to track me and... I can't have that."

"Jarod, you don't have to explain. They are my responsibility, I'll find them good homes." Alyx paced away, rubbing her forehead, the pressure from her foreknowledge still not easing. "You need to get moving."

"What do you see?" Darien asked, going to her a setting a hand on her shoulder.

Alyx closed her eyes to better concentrate. The same images she saw while asleep playing in reverse, the SUV leaving the resort, driving back down the highway, the sun lowering into the east until well south of Eureka, shadows still stretched long as they drove northward towards where they knew Jarod to be. The location confirmed not by their hard work, but by Broots hacking into Mr. Lyle's communications. "They are tracking Lyle's movements and while he will not get here first he knows where we are. He has orders to bring both of us in."

"Shit," Jarod swore.

Alyx opened her eyes, swallowing down the shock she felt. She had never done that before, followed the thread of a... a memory to see more, to see deeper. Being near Jarod must have activated this additional ability. Oh, marvelous, new family and bonus gifts. "Go," she insisted, "I... we will be just fine."

"You can't know that," Jarod hissed, the worry evident in his posture and tone.

She gave him a broad smile. "Sure I can. I may not be able to see what's coming for me, but I can for these two." She waved at Darien and Bobby. "If they are fine, I must be fine, because they would not let me go without a fight. One that would most likely involve explosives."

Darien snorted in amusement, but nodded in agreement. "This would be one of those over our dead body kinda deals."

"Damn straight," Hobbes said with arms crossed over his chest. "Kid's got the right of it, we'll be fine. You need to get while the gettin's good."

Jarod shook his head. "Lyle is dangerous."

Alyx walked over to Jarod, and set a hand on his arm. "So am I." Oh, boy, was she. If Lyle were to actually show himself he might just walk away intact, she had the urge to make an example of him, a warning to The Centre to be careful where they tread. Hell, if they pushed it even a touch too much Jarod's friends might just feel her wrath when they arrived. "Now go get the boys." She shooed him towards the door and with a nod, turned grabbed his coat and left.

Before either of her partners could say a word she went on a hunt for pen and paper and started scribbling information like a maniac. She wanted Jarod to have this information for multiple reasons, some of which were selfish even in her opinion, but necessary. Oh, this was a great bloody mess. She had no idea what to do or who to trust at this point. She turned to Bobby. "You understand how important all this is, yes?"

Hobbes nodded solemnly. "Yeah, kid, I do. Do we talk to the boss when we get home?"

Now that was a very good question. "Oy vey. I have no clue, Bobby." She glanced over at Darien. "Have you checked your levels since you woke up?"

"No. Why, am I gonna need to go see-through in the near future?"

"Probably. Want to make certain we have an ace up our sleeve should we need it," she told him and meaning it.

"Good point, kid. C'mon, partner, let's make certain you have max time invisible." Hobbes led Darien back to the bedroom, while she gazed about the room, wondering what else she could do to put the odds in their favor. Food and caffeine would do as a start. Needed her energy level as high as possible as she fully expected she would need to push her skills to the limits when Lyle and his toadies arrived.

 

~^~^~^~

 

Jarod had left over an hour ago, a note from Alyx tucked into the pocket of his pants, a note Alyx had not let anyone else read and that... that was just another nail driven into the coffin that had been their relationship. How could it all have gone to hell in just a few short days?

They were as ready as they were going to be. Hobbes had his guns near to hand, Alyx had taken a shower and changed into clean clothes, and Darien had gotten another quarter dose of Counteragent, when the finger stick had revealed he had more toxin in his system than he should. How much new inhibitor he had was a serious unknown that could cause problems in the long run. The Keep was busy running tests, but until she had a blood sample to work with could only guess. She hoped that once the new inhibitor was gone, so too would be the anomalous symptoms. When that would be was anyone's guess, so all they could do was deal with the situation and be prepared to put him down should it be warranted.

He really hoped it wouldn't be warranted.

The boys were out on the porch, Hobbes not thrilled with the looks of them even after Alyx had pulled some trick and made them safe to be around everyone. She refused to explain exactly what she had done, but it was pretty damn obvious she'd gone into their heads and made them be what she wanted and to hell with what they were supposed to be. Granted they had been viscous, trained guard dogs and now they were... house pets. House pets that could rip out your throat with a command... Alyx's command. They watched her like cult members watched their leader. And that was just plain creepy.

It made him wonder if she could do it to a person, or worse, if she had.

He closed his eyes and pinched his nose, realizing how insane and paranoid that sounded, even to himself. Just because she had the power to do something didn't mean she could... or would. The dogs had been an emergency situation and she had not been thrilled with the result, she'd simply been relieved she hadn't killed them by accident.

He turned as Alyx stepped out onto the porch, two mugs in her hands, she held one out for him to take, which he did with a nod of thanks. "Everything okay?" she asked softly.

"Right as rain," he answered, not about to tell her the truth, hell, not certain what the truth was right at the moment thanks to a cocktail of chemicals screwing with his mind.

Alyx reached up to set delicate fingers against his cheek, her touch electric... literally, her control never quite what it should be around him. "You'll do," she told him. "Just don't get between them and me, I don't want you hurt protecting me. Besides I need to make an impression."

"A non-lethal one, I hope," Hobbes stated as he joined them in the chilly air.

She turned her head slightly to Hobbes, hand now cupping Darien's cheek, which he liked far more than he probably should, part of him wanting to sweep her up in his arms, throw her over his shoulder and carry her all caveman-like into the bedroom and have his way with her. Her lips curved upwards into a smile, color rising in her cheeks as she unavoidably caught the tenor of his thoughts, which she didn't seem to mind all that much. "That's the plan, Bobby, but I'll make no guarantees when the proverbial fur begins to fly." She glanced down at the dogs. "Make that literal fur."

"You're gonna use the dogs?" Hobbes asked, not sounding happy about it.

"You talked to Jarod, should I not?"

Hobbes thought about it for a few moments. "Yeah, kid. You cannot be taken by these guys. Where do you want me?"

"You are my witness, Bobby. Shoot if you need to, but I want your eyes on everything so we can give a complete report to the Official when this is over," she told him, voice cool and composed considering what they suspected to be coming. "Although if I do this right, you shouldn't even need to draw."

"Alyx, you sure you want to do this? If they know what you can do they'll just want you all the more," Darien questioned, not wanting her to risk more than necessary.

"She needs to convince them she's too dangerous to capture," Hobbes explained, having worked it out on his own.

Darien groaned. Perfect, just perfect. She'd overdone it big time the day before, to the point of nosebleeds, and now she was going to have to push it again to convince these yokels to back off and allow her to live her life the way she chose. He thought his luck had been bad, hers... her luck had turned against her from the moment The Agency had taken an interest in her. "We can't just run?"

Hobbes shrugged. "We could, but how far would we get before they caught up with us. Least here and now we know the territory and that gives us an advantage, if only a small one."

"And collateral damage?" Darien waved at the other cabins, some of which were still occupied, though most had been vacated for greener and warmer pastures as soon as the roads had been cleared.

"Will be kept to a minimum. I've encourage anyone left away for the duration. I'm the target, I won't put anyone else at risk." She meant the words, he got that, but shit happened and people got hurt who shouldn't.

"And the trio after Jarod is still due to arrive first?" Hobbes questioned, wanting his ducks in a row before the shit hit the fan.

Alyx closed her eyes to better focus on the images the dream had left behind. "In theory, yes."

"In theory?" Hobbes grumbled. "That's not exactly useful."

"Hobbes, in her dream Jarod was captured, meaning he was still here," Darien pointed out as patiently as he could manage. What was obvious to him and Alyx, since they were the ones who had the dreams, wouldn't necessarily be to Hobbes.

"And now he's gone... before they've arrived. Got it." Hobbes rubbed his hands together, the chill air seeping in through the layers of clothing they wore. "So, we just wait and deal with whoever gets here first?"

"No choice," Darien answered. "We could hide and surprise them I s'pose." He glanced at Alyx, who didn't seem too keen on that idea.

"Well, we can't sit out here all day, it's too damn cold." Hobbes didn't look happy as all. "We could leave, you know."

"I know," Alyx agreed softly, "and I have to admit I seriously considered it, but I don't really want them following us back to San Diego. That'd force the Official's hand and there's no guarantee his pull would have any influence over those who run The Centre. This Triumvirate. " She shook her head. "I have to take a stand sometime, might as well be now."

Darien had no idea that she felt that way, she usually kept her concerns locked tightly within, at least when it came to what she considered personal matters. She had at least one major black ops agency after her - the one her husband had worked for - along with the various groups she'd encountered through the Agency, several of which had no direct connection to any government, like Chrysalis. "You don't have to do this alone," he told her, meaning it.

"Yeah, kid," Hobbes agreed with an emphatic nod.

She rubbed her forehead. "I don't need you guys ending up part of the collateral damage. You will be used against me if we give them even the tiniest of openings."

Duh. They knew that and yet still kept forgetting. Hell, the reverse was just as true and just as serious, but there had to be point where you said enough was enough and drew that line in the sand. And your options were limited: you either embraced the danger you put everyone near and dear to you in, or you closed yourself off and let no one in. It had taken months for Alyx to let anyone in and he wanted no part of her backsliding into that mentality.

Fuck, how could he be so very mad at her and still want her so very much?

And though he wanted to he couldn't blame it on the toxin. No, this issue had been festering for a while now and they would need to figure it out once they got home.

Alyx shivered, turning to gaze up at him, looking hurt. "I'm sorry, D, but now is not the time to deal with it."

He ground his teeth in frustration. "Same song, different verse," he groused, then sucked in a breath, blowing it out to a slow count of ten. "Got it. Survive bad guys first, talk... eventually."

"Jeez, Fawkes, do you think she did this on purpose? The last thing she needs is her entire world dumped sideways yet again. Did you listen to anything I told you this morning?" Hobbes sounded just as tired and frustrated as Darien.

"Don't bother, Bobby. He's only going to hear what he wants to right now." With a soft growl she turned and walked into the cabin, the heads of all three dogs lifting and following her with their eyes.

"Shit," Darien muttered while Hobbes glared at him.

"I told you nothing happened between them two." Hobbes looked like he wanted to spit nails.

"You weren't there any more than I was," Darien snapped.

Hobbes shook his head in clear dismay. "Don't matter, neither of them have a reason to lie."

"Unless something  _did_  happen," Darien countered with, feeling both angry and smug at the same time.

Hobbes huffed, his breath creating a fog that momentarily obscured his face. "I am not getting in the middle of this. If you can't back her up then go get some breakfast at the lodge. I don't want your attitude getting someone hurt."

Darien came damn close to snapping the first fool thing that came into his head at his partner, but the saner part of him prevailed and he took a moment to calm down before responding. "Crap." He needed to focus or when this Mr. Lyle showed up he'd be leaving with the prize: Alyx. "I'm in."

"Good." Hobbes leaned out over the rail, looking down towards the cabin that had been Jarod's as a black car with deeply tinted windows pulled to a stop in front of it. " 'Cause it looks like the show is about to start."

 

~^~

 

She shouldn't have walked away.

Turning her back on him had never been a wise move in the past and probably hadn't been a good one this time, but she felt she had no choice. She needed to be away from him for a few minutes.

She would know when Jarod's friends from The Centre arrived. She'd kept her radar on high ever since he had left, as they could show up at any moment to find him gone. Once Jarod had left the resort that future that she had foreseen changed and  _that_  could be good or bad. Fixing one obvious problem, didn't always save the day, but merely prolonged the inevitable. She had learned that he hard way more than once. She really didn't want this to be one of those times, but unless her ever-so-special brain decided to clue her in, she had no idea what might be coming, and wouldn't until the worst happened.

At least now she understood why her mind had insisted she be on this mission. If she hadn't been here to be the focus of Darien's ire, someone else would have been, and that... well  _that_  would have been bad. As it was he had beaten the crap out of Bobby to get him out of the way. Jarod had found him stuffed into the tiny utility closet off the kitchen, thus explaining the muffled sound to his phone when she had texted him.

She wanted to throttle the Keeper for deciding to try the new inhibitor and then allowing Darien to go out of town on a mission when they had no idea what, if any, side-effects there might be. God alone knew what Darien might have chosen to stew about had she not been here. Hell, he could have run, taken off, and this far from home would have had a major head start. He could have disappeared - no pun intended - and never been seen again.

While part of her longed for him to have the freedom he so craved, it could not be. Not yet. Not so long as the gland still functioned the way it did. He had said no to a viable removal technique, but agreed to delve deeper into the inhibitors, all of which did little more than grant him more time.

Which swung her back to the issue at hand: time, or the lack thereof. Meeting Jarod had forced those at The Centre to admit to her existence and probably into moving sooner than they had intended to. Now she waited, somewhat impatiently, for them to arrive and give her a chance to do her worst.

Time without the Madness.

Time invisible.

Time normal.

The one thing she most wanted to give him, but could not. The closest they got to normal was when they were alone, just the two of them with the rest of the world forgotten for a time.

And it was all because of the damn job.

For an instant, for a fraction of a millisecond she considered just allowing The Centre to take her. To steal her from the Agency and make her disappear. She had little doubt she'd be able to escape from them given how easily Jarod had done so time and time again. Literally, according to him, walking in and out of the expansive fortress with little to no fear of capture. With her abilities she could most likely walk in and out with impunity.

Then the moment passed.

She couldn't leave Darien before, and she wouldn't now, even if he was being a complete and total dick. Granted, it was the inhibitor side-effect that had brought out his dickhead side on this occasion, but the emotions behind it were very real and would need to be dealt with and that... that was not going to be easy. It would mean tearing open some barely healed wounds and letting the blood flow freely. She had hoped this would never come to a head, that Darien would remain fine with their relationship as it stood, but she had always known he needed... and wanted more.

The fact that he had asked her to marry him attested to that fact, and her refusal still lay like a wide swath of mine laden no man's land between them.

It was time... No, it was past time that this... they... their relationship had been addressed. She wore his ring, but that hadn't been enough for quite awhile now.

He didn't understand and wouldn't until she gathered the courage to tell him why she wanted no part of marriage and all it implied.

She rubbed her face in her hands. She needed to focus. Jarod's friends from The Centre could be here any moment and here she was wallowing in her relationship problems. She picked up the red notebook Jarod had asked her to give Miss Parker when she arrived.

Bobby's agitation level spiked and she stretched out her senses to discover the source of his concern. With a sigh she walked back towards the door, just in time for Bobby to open it.

"Kid, your... friends have arrived."

Alyx nodded and stepped back out into the chill air to see the three people from The Centre mounting the stairs to the cabin. Darien stood with his arms crossed over his chest, doing his best to look threatening and pulling it off pretty well. They all knew there was a chance these three would try to grab her for themselves, though Alyx doubted it. By all accounts their focus was Jarod and they would pretend to know nothing about her and her connection to The Centre to keep that thin veneer of plausible deniability.

As soon as Miss Parker saw Alyx she sighed heavily. "He's gone, isn't he?"

"Yes," Alyx agreed with a stiff nod. "You planning on taking me instead?"

Miss Parker cocked her head to the side a thoughtful look on her face. "If there was the slightest chance that it would get me Jarod I would."

"But it won't," Sydney added, a worried glance at Miss Parker.

"No, it won't," she admitted, shoulders relaxing, if only slightly. "Lucky for you we don't know you exist... as anyone other than those who happened to help Jarod on this occasion." She gestured towards the notebook in Alyx's hand. "He leave that for us?"

"For you," Alyx told her, holding it out for the other woman to take.

"Same old Jarod." Miss Parker thumbed through the notebook before placing it in an inside pocket of her long winter coat, which also revealed the gun in the shoulder holster that she did not reach for, wisely, as Hobbes had moved his hand to rest on the butt of his Colt as a precaution. "Any chance you know where he's heading next?"

Alyx chuckled softly. "No. Not that I'd tell you. It's up to you to find the breadcrumbs he leaves. That's how the game is played, correct?"

Sydney laughed. "Very true." He looked her over with an observer's eyes, missing little. "So different, and yet so very much alike."

Miss Parker snorted, mounting the last step to stand next to Alyx, the disparity in their heights dramatic. "And so much shorter."

Alyx laughed softly, not about to disagree. Miss Parker stood nearly as tall as Jarod and could very nearly look Darien in the eyes. She towered over both herself and Bobby. "Small things and all that," Alyx stated, senses alert for the others they were expecting.

Broots blinked at her, as if surprised at what he saw. "You look like his mother," he blurted out.

Sydney hmmm in reaction, while Darien shot a look at her fraught with meaning she didn't have the time to explore. Bobby had been filled in... sort of, but Darien had not, and it wasn't going to happen now. "Red hair isn't that uncommon," she snarked, hoping the man would get the hint and let it drop.

"True enough," Sydney agreed, understanding her wish to change the subject even if Broots did not. "Miss Parker, I believe our... friends here have prepared for siege."

"That's one way of describing it," Hobbes grumbled, eyes focused on the roadway before the cabins, watching for any unexpected company.

Darien watched Alyx, eyes revealing nothing that went on inside him. He simply waited, conserving his energy for what would be coming.

Alyx closed her eyes, ignored the risk and cast her mind as far out as she could, honestly surprised at the distance she could see to. She ignored the discomfort, slipping through mind after mind in the only direction those after her could come by until... "They are coming," she informed everyone, then, to Miss Parker, "This is your out."

Miss Parker shook her head. "No, we'll stay." She turned to Sydney, "Won't we?"

Broots let out a squeak of fear, while Sydney nodded. "Of course. We are simply speaking to those who aided Jarod, as we have many times before."

"But... but Mr. Lyle probably used us to find her," Broots pointed out.

"Most likely," Sydney agreed, "but the contact was initiated by Jarod, not us. Agent Silver is no more than that as far as we are concerned. Correct?"

The older man's eyes bored into Broots', who swallowed and nodded, looking like he wanted to scuttle away and hide.

"Oh, grow a pair, Broots," Miss Parker said with a huff of disdain. "Come hide behind my skirts if it'll make you feel better."

Broots sucked in a breath, straightening his back, finding strength in her harsh teasing. "Next time don't drag me along," he groused, sidling past Sydney to stand at the far end of the porch, getting out of the line of fire if Alyx were to take a wild guess. Smart man.

Alyx split her attention, a glance to both Darien and Bobby had them shifting position subtly, while Alyx urged Sydney deeper onto the porch, leaving her alone standing at the top of the stairs. Just as she wished it. As one the dogs stood and jumped the railing to the ground below, and vanished, taking up positions nearby for her to best deploy them at need. She turned her head slightly, catching Bobby in her peripheral vision only. "Remember what I told you."

"Yeah, kid, I do."

She nodded and turned away, her focus returning to the now, preparing herself for the fight to come.

"Alyx, what are you going to do?" Sydney asked.

She shrugged. "Be myself."

Darien laughed at that, one of the few people in the world to understand what that really meant. She had no intentions to hold back, she planned to give this Mr. Lyle and his toadies exactly what they had come for: her, in all her dangerously beautiful glory.

She had sent away all that she could, using her abilities to encourage the innocents as far away as possible leaving all the nearby cabins empty. Still, she needed to keep the damage to a minimum; the Official would lecture her interminably if she forced him to pay for any damages. So, no damages to any part of the resort, only to those from The Centre and the vehicles they arrived in.

Three of them, two black sedans and an SUV that came tearing up the icy gravel road in a vain effort to gain the element of surprise. They slid to a halt, the frozen, snow packed surface causing all three to skid and wobble on the uneven surface, making their grand entrance less than impressive as they threw up dirt, gravel and slush then finally slewed to a stop.

Doors flung open, men boiling out like ants from a disturbed nest, weapons drawn and at the ready, all barrels from both handguns and rifles turning to her and locking on within seconds. Seconds that felt like an eternity to her as she thickened the air before her and along the entire length of the porch; a missed shot might very well kill if it hit anyone else. The first volley of obvious tranquilizer darts hung in the air a few feet in front of her, stuck and immobile, even as they pulled their second weapons and fired again.

Behind her she heard Mr. Broots grunt in surprise and no little fear, which she ignored. She could feel everything and everyone about her, but only as secondary and tertiary information. Important, but to be dealt with later.

More men boiled out, using the same unimpressive tactics, though this time she didn't bother allowing them to fire, instead she reached out her mind and focused a burst of energy at each, quickly heating the barrels until red hot, causing shouts and screams and the half dozen guns to be dropped to the ground, unusable, the now warped metal cooling quickly once her attention had moved on.

She should have a headache by now, she should be reeling from trying to juggle so many things at once, a week ago she would have been down on her knees, in tears holding her head in pain, but not now... now, thanks to meeting Jarod, she could allow the power to simply flow, use it without being forced to suffer the potentially debilitating effects. Then again, it could be no more than adrenaline and the knowledge that if she failed here and now the consequences would be dire for her and all those around her.

"Gun," Hobbes shouted, when they gave up trying to capture her and turned to threatening her friends to get her to surrender. They seemed to have forgotten their tranq darts still hung in the air. She spun them about sending them after all those who had chosen to pull out the lethal weaponry. None missed and within moments their numbers had been halved.

Needing to make her point she lifted both cars into the air, flinging the doors wide open, giving anyone inside a chance to get out before shooting them straight up twenty feet, flipping them over and dropping them onto their roofs with an impressive crash and rending of metal. Those standing nearby scattered, leaving the SUV and the pair inside alone.

The dogs came out them, all three in full attack posture, lips drawn back to reveal bright white deadly sharp teeth, deep, dangerous snarls emanating from their chests as they crouched low, ready to launch themselves at their chosen targets should they do something foolish; like breathe.

"Have I made my point yet?" Alyx called out, not raising her voice much at all while knowing she would most certainly be heard. She felt Darien move to stand directly behind her, one hand settling on her shoulder.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Easy, baby, you can't make your point if you kill them."

"Oh, I don't know. A point would be made, just not quite the same one." Alyx made certain to say that loud enough to be heard by anyone within shouting distance. "Dropping your SUV from fifty feet in the air might get my point across. Granted there wouldn't be much left unbroken…"

The rear door opened and out stepped a man in his mid-thirties, expensive suit under an even more expensive coat. "No need to waste a perfectly good vehicle... even if I can write it off." His gaze roved over all of them settling on Miss Parker. "I take it Jarod got away, again." He tsked and shook his head. "Mr. Raines will not be happy."

Miss Parker's response was a harsh bark of laughter. "No, I doubt he will."

"You know, if you are choosing a side, that," he pointed at Alyx, "is probably not the side you want to be on."

"Choosing sides? How is this choosing sides?" She strode down the steps, brushing past Alyx, the contact intentional, then down the walk to stand before her brother; the shield that had protected them, parting to allow her through. She reached into her coat, all the nearby men twitching, hands going to side arms... or empty holsters as the case may be, while she did nothing more than withdraw the red notebook she'd tucked inside. "We missed Jarod by a few minutes, they," she waved back at the cabin, "happen to be the ones who worked with him." She leaned forward, voice lowering menacingly. "It seemed prudent to question them." She spun about, tossing a wink in Alyx's direction. "Perhaps you'd like to explain the attack on these agents."

"That would be none of your business," Lyle snapped, shoving past his sister, heading towards the stairs.

"Mr. Lyle, I would be very cautious if I were you," Sydney warned, raising one hand as if to ward him off.

Lyle laughed and Alyx turned to look at Sydney who shrugged, not understanding the man's motives any more than her. While she was turned away, Lyle made his move. She may have not been facing him, but she knew exactly what he intended. She felt Darien tense, fingers tightening on her shoulder, but he otherwise did not move, trusting her to know what she was doing.

She permitted Lyle to draw his gun, step right up to her and press the barrel against the side of her neck. She sighed heavily. "Really? Did you think I wouldn't know what you planned?"

"Guess not, since I've managed to get the drop on you."

Darien laughed softly.

"What do you think is so funny?" Lyle questioned in irritation.

"Perhaps you should look behind you, brother," Miss Parker suggested, sounding smug.

Rotating his head about slowly, Lyle discovered that his men had been flattened to the ground, their disassembled weapons now in a neat pile at his feet, every door of the SUV open to reveal the driver he had left inside was no longer there, having joined his mates on the icy ground. He was the only one left standing and free to move. Everyone else taken out of play in the few seconds it had taken him to walk to her... and she'd been looking away at the time.

"Do you really think she's afraid of your little... gun?" Darien asked, voice cool and calm.

Hobbes snorted. "You're all alone, pal. Unless you have a miracle up your sleeve I would suggest you give up." He hadn't even bothered to reach for his weapon.

"You think I can't shoot her before any of you move?"

"I think you're supposed to bring me in alive and won't shoot me," Alyx said, turning to look at him. She leaned about him to meet Miss Parker's amused gaze. "Twins?"

Lyle twitched and Miss Parker's lips tightened to a thin line, but she nodded. "Much to my dismay."

"Like I got a good deal," Lyle snarked right back, the bickering not friendly at all. "You will be coming back with me."

Alyx grasped the gun firmly with her mind and moved it away from her, Lyle straining against the inexorable hold she had on the weapon, of course it didn't help that she'd made certain he could not let it go, or fire it. She won, the gun pointed skyward, Lyle locked in place unable to move as she paced slowly around him. "You were never intended to bring me in. You were sent so those above you, this Mr. Raines especially, could get a taste of what I can do." She spun him about to face his ride. "So, you have seen, you have felt, you have experienced some of what I have to offer. Oh, and yes, the reason Jarod was not here is because I told him you were coming...  _hours ago_." She reached over and removed the gun from his nerveless fingers. She floated it in the air before him then slowly crushed it, careful to not explode the bullets, until it would easily fit into the palm of his hand, which is where she placed it, still warm from the manipulation of the metal.

"Go away. Before I decide you would look better shaped like your gun." And with those words she turned away, walked back up the stairs and into the cabin, shutting the door softly behind her. She sucked in one deep breath, letting it out to a slow count of ten, waiting for the pain, only none came.

And that... that worried her.

 

~^~^~^~

 

Forty minutes passed before they walked back into the cabin. They being Darien, Hobbes and the three marginally welcome members of The Centre. Lyle and his men had been encouraged to leave as swiftly as possible, but with unconscious goons and two very damaged cars, leaving only the SUV working, it turned out to be a bit of a challenge. In the end Miss Parker gave up her ride, with the assurance they would locate her a new one ASAP, just to get rid of them. She seemed as happy to see them gone as he had.

Alyx had stayed out of sight, probably with a headache of monstrous proportions after that show she had put on, but no one had complained about having to clean up her mess. Tow trucks were on the way for the two sedans, apologies had been sent to the management for the mess, but the badges had silenced most of the complaints. Besides it could have been so much worse; the property damage had be nonexistent thanks to the care Alyx had taken to keep the bullets from flying anywhere but at her. He and Hobbes hadn't done a damn thing except look mean and watch.

The day was barely half over and it had already been way more of an adventure than he had planned.

The dogs took turns drinking from the bowl that had been set out for them and then settled before the fire without a complaint. Once Lyle and all had been rousted, the trio of mutts had reverted to their lap doggie selves, for which Darien had been thankful, as they were some scary sons of bitches when riled.

Jarod's Centre friends had piled their bags near the door and had already begun arranging a ride back to their plane in Missoula, and planned to be out of the way before nightfall. It was quite obvious they wanted to speak with Alyx, Sydney most especially, but her willingness was most certainly in question.

Darien poked his head into the bedroom to find Alyx packing her bags. "You going somewhere?"

She glanced over at him with a wan smile. "Yes."

That surprised him. "Uh, okay. I suppose we do need to get home, but given how today has gone I figured we deal with it in the morning." Hobbes had been on the phone with Drake, giving them the details of their little head-butting session with The Centre just in case the bossman were to suddenly get some irate phone calls from whomever was in charge over there, and while the Official did want them home, they still needed to finish up some paperwork here with the local ATF agents, especially now with Jarod in the wind.

Alyx sighed and sat down on the bed her suitcase rested on. "I'm not going home with you guys."

Darien felt an instant of red hot rage wash through him, his hands balling into fists as he took an involuntary step forward, fully intending to deal with her properly... this time. By the time he stood before her the worst of the sensation had passed, reminding him that his emotional state was still being ruled by the chemicals in his system. He had his moments of normalcy, but it obviously didn't take much to set the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction. Sadly, knowing he wasn't quite in his right mind did nothing to change the fact that he wasn't quite in his right mind. "Sorry," he mumbled, the deep blue bruises standing out starkly against her pale skin.

"It's okay," she told him, not appearing to be upset at his reaction.

"How's your head?" He had half expected to find her sleeping off pain meds when he walked in.

"Fine. Not even a twinge."

Now that was a shock and he failed to keep it off his features. "But..." He shook his head not sure what to say. "How?"

She whispered, "I wish I knew." She hugged herself, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if attempting to warm a body chilled beyond measure. "I've been thinking, and believe if you don't Quicksilver anymore it will slow the build up of the... whatever it is causing the mood swings."

Darien arched an eyebrow, partially due to the violent change of subject. "Why no Quicksilver?"

"Because when you actively Quicksilver it increases the amount of toxin being released, I think something in the new inhibitor is affecting the toxin itself instead of just slowing it's release, thus causing the wonky symptoms." She returned to folding and packing her clothes as she spoke. "The toxin will still get into your system, just at far lower levels even if you don't go invisible-"

He set a hand on her shoulder to still her words and hands. "Got it. Any idea when the inhibitor will wear off?" He kept his hand in place as she turned about to meet his eyes.

She tipped her head to rub her cheek against the back of his hand. "We based it on the original all-purpose inhibitor so, in theory, a couple weeks from the initial injection. Needed to be cautious of withdrawal symptoms."

He turned his hand over to cup her cheek. "Same ol' same ol' then." This he wanted and she, based on the little he was getting from her, she needed. "What's going on? New mission?"

"Not exactly, more like extra clean up from this one. I'll be heading east for a few days."

Darien stiffened. "The Centre?"

"No," she told him, a hand coming up to curve about his. "No, I'm not that crazy, but... but there are things that need to be dealt with."

"I can help," he insisted, not wanting her to go off alone, not wanting to watch her walk away from him again. Didn't trust her off by herself so soon after Jarod had left.

"I know, but you need to stay here, both to finish up with the ATF and because you need to get home and into the Keep. Claire needs to run tests ASAP and the blood sample we took will only be viable for so long." She made every effort to look sympathetic, but it fell short of the mark as far as he as concerned.

"You always find a reason for me to not go with you these days." He didn't move away, his hand shifting back into her hair and curling in the strands, not hard enough to hurt, not yet.

"Not always," she said softly. "Only when there is no choice." She shifted closer, not fighting his grip, not trying to get away, but to all appearances wanting nothing more than to be with him. "Your health comes first. If you really want me to, I will fly back to San Diego with you and then head east, but I will be taking this trip and I will be taking it alone."

He wanted to get angry, but couldn't seem to drum up the energy to do so. She would leave, no matter what he said or did; there was no way he would have her placate him by escorting him home and then running away. His grip tightened for an instant, probably pulling her hair painfully, but she bore it without a complaint, then he let go and backed away. "No need, Hobbesy'll get me home just fine."

"Darien, I'll be back in a few days, and-"

"And the boss will send you off somewhere else." He ran his hands through his hair feeling frustrated and hating that they had so little control over their own lives. "I'm tired of watching you leave."

"And I'm tired of leaving," she said, sounding unhappy. "But what am I supposed to do? I've made as many compromises as I dare. I won't make any more, sorry."

More compromises? Darien had no idea what she was talking about. "Alyx-"

Hobbes stuck his head in and cut off whatever Darien might have said next. "Kid, you left your phone out here and it's been trying to vibrate off the table."

She looked up at Darien for a moment, then walked past him and out into the main room.

"Fawkes, everything copacetic in here?"

" 'Cept for Alyx taking off for parts unknown, yeah, I guess so."

Hobbes blinked. "Where's she going?"

It felt oddly nice to know he hadn't been the only one left off that particular loop. "Back east, supposedly. Claimed the 'Fish cleared it and everything."

"Ah, that explains a few things," Hobbes said nodding sagely.

Darien wanted to throttle the man. "Hobbes, more info."

"Drake mentioned something about her brother that didn't make sense at the time. I kinda figured he was coming out to San Diego, but I guess she's going to him." Hobbes leaned against the wall. "Seeing as this Centre sitch involves him, it makes sense."

And it did, lots of sense, especially as it appeared that Michael had also been intended to be part of this Oracle project. "But I thought she was supposed to stay away from... her children."

Hobbes shrugged. "I don't know that she's heading there, just meeting Michael. Could be going to DC to meet his CIA cover. Fawkes, this is family, she needs to do this, and this isn't something you can explain in a text or phone call."

Darien paced the confines of the room, a hand rubbing the back of his head, causing his hair to stand up even more oddly than usual. Hobbes was right, this was something that needed to be done in person. "Should she be alone?"

"Probably not, but that ain't our call. You," he stuck a single finger at Darien, "need to get home before you pop your top again."

"I won't," Darien growled, low and dangerous.

Hobbes simply raised one eyebrow in reaction.

"Shit," Darien groused. "Why did this have to happen now?" Alyx needed him, whether or not she wanted to admit it, and he could not be there for her, thanks to gland yet again.

"Fawkes, my friend," the words sounding quiet and sincere, "it always happens  _now_. That's life. We just have to deal with it the best we can."

Darien stopped his pacing and slumped, inches of height seeming to disappear in an instant. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't..." Not true he did know, and on any other occasion he would have acted on it without having to be reminded what the right thing to do was. "Help her get ready to go and make damn sure she has what she needs to keep safe."

Hobbes nodded. "Good answer." He gestured at the door and Darien nodded, walking through first. Time to man up and do what was right, no matter how much he didn't like it.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

**Mountain High Resort**

 

**Near Eureka, Montana**

 

Jarod lowered the binoculars and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had been there... not to help so much as to see the show up close and personal. He hadn't wanted to leave, but he most certainly hadn't wanted to be captured by either Miss Parker or Mr. Lyle, but also hadn't wanted to leave Alyx and her partners alone to face The Centre.

He needn't have worried.

Alyx had dealt with the situation handily.

Sadly, she had probably made Mr. Raines want her even more.

Jarod could still feel her in the back of his head, so knew that the amount of power she had used was immense, and yet still only a drop in an ocean of that available to her. After yesterday he had expected her to feel at least some pain, even though the majority of her efforts had not involved allowing numerous minds into her own, yet she had been completely fine afterwards. The energy expense minimal at best.

He likened it to Master Yoda after raising the X-wing from the swamp on Dagobah. Right down to the release of a single held in breath at the end.

She'd made it look so easy, and it both should and should not have been.

He suspected that he had changed her, suspected that she had changed him, but what ultimately would come from the changes he had no idea.

A van pulled up before the cabin and he lifted the binoculars to see what was going on now. Alyx walked out of the cabin, suitcase bumping along the ground behind her, laptop bag slung over one shoulder, the three dogs fanned out around her. Her partners lagging several steps to the rear, both without their travel gear, suggesting that wherever she was going she was going there alone. Well, alone as she could be with three Rottweillers at her side.

The driver opened the side door of the van, and she waved the dogs in, while he took her suitcase and carried it around back. Hobbes gave her a quick hug then left her and Fawkes alone. They stood apart for several long minutes, Darien's head tipped down and staring at some spot between his shuffling feet, until Alyx broke the stalemate, walking forward and reaching up to set her knuckles of her left hand against his cheek. They held that tableau for a few moments then whatever war Darien had been fighting within produced a winner and he leaned down to kiss her. When they parted, neither looked very happy, clearly there remained unfinished business between them, but it was also clear that Alyx did not have the time to deal with it. A last look and she turned away, the driver shutting the door behind her, before moving to the driver's seat. Darien remained in place until the van had disappeared from sight. Only then did he turn and go back into the cabin.

Jarod lowered the binoculars; there was nothing left to do here. Alyx was safe, Lyle had been stopped, Sydney and company would be heading back to The Centre empty-handed except for the red notebook, which meant Jarod felt free to leave. He stood, brushing off the snow, and headed back to the jeep. He climbed in, tossing the binoculars on the passenger seat and started the engine.

He had no plans for his next stop; nothing in particular had caught his interest. Shifting, he pulled the note out of his pocket and read it over again. Maybe... maybe it was time to head back east for a while.

Decision made, he tucked the note away and put the car into gear.

 

**Private Residence**

**Newport, Rhode Island**

 

_A couple of smartasses, through the medium of Southpark, gave us this piece of wisdom, "Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about."_

_They couldn't be more right no matter how twisted the branches of the family tree get._

_The roots… they still go deep._

 

"So, Rose decided to name them Huey, Dewey, and Louie."

Alyx snorted into her cup of herbal tea, just managing to get it out of the line of fire before spilling it. "I take it that means they are adjusting well."

"Which  _they_  are you referring to, the dogs or the kids?" Mike questioned, not about to make things easy for her.

Not that any of this had been easy. Telling him the truth about their... conception had been one of the most difficult things she had ever done. Staying away from her children still remained at the top of the list, but destroying any illusions about her family was definitely up there in the top ten. He had taken the news as well as expected, which was to say with disbelief followed by realization that it was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as she put all the pieces into place and showed him the proof she had. He had arranged blood tests to verify it, but she was certain what they would reveal: that she and Mikey bore no direction genetic relationship with their parents or siblings. Hell, possibly each other. Mike was obviously not Jarod's clone, as he looked nothing like him.

Gods, what a fucking mess. "Both?" She knew the kids had questioned the mysterious benefactor that had given them the dogs, but Mike had kept mum. Not easy with a couple of semi-active telepaths in the house. "I know I've asked this before, but do we tell Jacob and Patrick?"

Mike rubbed his forehead. "Yes, but not now. We need more info, useful info, before we go to them. If even half of what you've told me is true, this Centre is beyond dangerous and we cannot drag them into this, not without preparation."

"Yeah, I know," she agreed sounding as dour as she probably looked.

"What?"

"Just... they've barely adjusted to me being alive and the whole Jess/black-ops agency thing, this... this is going to want to make them run for the hills."

Mike snorted. "You ain't kidding. Jake is still foaming at the mouth, but since he can't contact you directly, I'm the one who gets yelled at regularly."

"And there you have made my point," Alyx said in dismay. "How the hell did this happen to our family?" She really wanted to understand. It seemed their family had been a target... forever, maybe even long before their parents had even become a couple. Far fetched, maybe, but as viable a hypothesis as it being nothing more than ill luck.

" 'Chele..." he trailed off and shook his head. "It's not that cut and dried and you know it. Yeah, some of it had been planned, some... not so much, but we still get to decide what we do with our lives."

Alyx sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I know that. I believe that, but sometimes that whole fate/destiny thing seems to be the more logical explanation for what is going on in my life." And she was tired of it, tired of not being in control of any facet of her existence, of being pulled in a dozen directions at once, none of which the one she wanted to move in. She wanted her life back, if only she had any clue what her life was.

Mike reached out to set a warm hand over her cold one, the weather the typical mid-fall cold, damp and drizzly, which, while warmer than Montana, still left her chilled. "We've worn this topic out, 'Chele, yet you are still conflicted. You have to go home eventually, don't you?"

"Home," she echoed, sounding wistful. "I'm not to sure where that is anymore."

Mike cocked his head, surely using that permanent connection between them to his advantage. Bad enough he was a frickin' uber empath, but they had that twin bond and it had never faded, mostly because they were both high psi. "But you are sure  _who_  it is."

She wanted to glare, wanted to be angry, but she also needed to talk to someone and her choices had become quite limited. "Darien. We... he... ah shit, I don't know anymore," she grumbled, not certain where to begin.

"Start with the ring." He ran his thumb over the snake adorning her right ring finger.

She ducked her head, not able to meet his eyes. "He asked me to marry him. I said no. He walked away."

"He came back, though. How long did he last? A week?"

"Ten days. Ten miserable days," she told him. "At the time it was all or nothing for him."

"And for you?"

"Me? I just wanted to be with him. I didn't... don't need marriage for that." She knew she sounded defensive, but that didn't make it the truth.

"And Jess and what he did to you had nothing to do with that?" A valid question and one she actually had an answer to.

"Of course it did," she told him bluntly. "But there are other just as valid reasons as well."

"Have you told Darien these reasons?"

"Some of them, yes."

Mike nodded. "Which ones?"

"He wants kids... deserves the chance to be a father. And we both know he won't be able to with me."

Mike looked sympathetic, but didn't go any easier on her. "And does he agree with this, or does he want to be with you anyway?"

"Still wants to marry me."

"He doesn't want to lose you."

She smiled wanly. "He won't, but he can't believe that. He expects me to leave and not return, just like every other woman in his life that he has cared deeply about." She shook her head; certain she was explaining this all wrong.

"You stayed for him."

Of course he had figured it out, he of all people would be the one to understand that when she'd made the decision to stay in San Diego it had been because of Darien. "I had to," she admitted solemnly, not certain Mike would be able to understand the pressure the mental connection to Darien placed on her. The ones with her family, though just as permanent were weaker and did not place such forceful demands on her mind. They were there, yes, but not pulling at her attention constantly. She typically had to focus on a specific person to get any details at all. And given what she now knew about the gland's genetics, it made little sense that the mental bridge between her and Darien was the strongest she had ever experienced, even stronger than the one between her and Mike, her twin brother.

"He doesn't like it when you leave."

That hadn't been hard to pick up on as her mind had been rummaging through that very subject. "He doesn't think I'll come back."

"Or not come back to him. You've told me you essentially have no emotional control when with him, so he must know how you feel. Have you told him?"

Alyx froze, most certainly doing a remarkable deer in the headlights impression.

Mike chuckled. "I'll take that as a no."

"Hey, not like he has either," she groused.

Mike raised one eyebrow at that. "Really?" She nodded. "He asked you to marry him without ever professing his undying love?" The purple prose was just the right touch and made her smile, even though the stating of that truth hurt.

"That would be correct."

"Well, hell, I wouldn't say yes either." He leaned back in his chair, clearly thinking. "Why haven't you? A real reason."

"Let's just say sharing said feeling and articulating it are two very different things. He knows how I feel." A run-around answer, even she had to admit, but the best she could do right at this moment.

"I'm certain he does, but some people need to  _hear_  it. So the question is: why can't you tell him?"

She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about exactly why she couldn't say what were probably considered the three most important words in life. "Jess used it as part of his... abuse," she admitted after several long minutes of silence.

Mike sucked in a breath, which made her open her eyes to look at him. For an instant there was pity - for her - and then it was gone as the full meaning of her statement registered. "Christ. Is there anything he didn't do in his efforts to control you?"

"That is a question to which I have no answer. I've researched some of techniques he used, he could have done far worse." She sipped her cooling tea. "He needed me for breeding so had to limit his damage... until he fucked that one up." Talking about this wasn't easy, but with Mike it wouldn't be so bad, she just had to not let the memories that came flooding back stop her.

Once she set down the mug, he grasped her hand tightly in both of his own. "You should have told me. All those years..." He shook his head. "I could have helped, gotten you out of there, hell, beat the bastard to a bloody pulp."

Alyx snorted in amusement. "Mikey, if I had been able to ask for help I would have... In fact, I did, if you recall, sadly it was, what, just weeks before I got grabbed by the Agency." She patted him on the cheek. "I wasn't ready before then."

"But now it has mangled your perception of love," he stated astutely.

She sighed, sitting back in her chair. "So it would appear. In some ways I'm glad he's never said... those words. I don't want what I feel for Darien tangled up with... with Jess. That is not the kind of... of love he deserves."

"How hard was it for you to say that?"

"Very. It's times like this I hate how my memory works." Not the first time she'd voiced that complaint, and doubtful it would be the last.

"You can't avoid that one word forever, especially where your relationship with Darien is concerned." He scooted closer, making certain to look her dead in the eye. "Maybe instead of allowing those old memories to haunt you, you should create some new ones  _with_  Darien."

Alyx twitched, she had never even considered that and she had to wonder why the hell not. "You really think it'll be that simple? Proclaim my love a few times and banish over a decade of abusive memories?" She wanted to be angry, wanted to sound bitter, but even she could hear the hope in her voice. She'd spent so much time avoiding those memories and anything that might trigger them that she had never considered rewriting the code. Damn. Forest, meet trees.

"Simple? No. But it might just be worth a try."

 

**The Centre**

**Blue Cove, Delaware**

 

"I send you on a simple job; bring back two subjects and not only do you fail, you fail on a level I have never seen before. Both subjects in the wind, personnel injured, and thousands of dollars of property damage that The Centre is paying for." Mr. Raines wheezed, trying to impress his subordinate with exactly how infuriated he  _pretended_  to be. His need for oxygen and inability to draw in a deep breath worked against him in some ways, though based on the widened eyes he probably looked as if he were about to drop dead.

Good, better thought to be weak and  _be_  powerful, it would give him an advantage and he would use it expertly.

Raines watched Lyle's jaw tense, probably grinding his teeth in his ire. "Nothing in the information we collected even hinted that she had gained that level of skill. Never mind the fact that she clearly had been warned we were coming and prepared accordingly."

"And now Miss Parker is aware of our interest in her," Mr. Raines pointed out. While it really wouldn't change their plans, it  _would_  change the game. Miss Parker might still be charged with bringing Jarod back to the loving bosom of The Centre, but everyone knew she remained reluctant to do so. Too many ties between herself and Jarod, and the loss of the man she had thought to be her father, had damaged her allegiance to The Centre and more importantly The Triumvirate. She would need to be brought back into the fold fully if the long term goals were going to be achieved.

"I'm pretty damn certain she was aware long before she arrived."

True enough, given the video and emails intercepted between Jarod and Sydney. There was little chance Miss Parker had been unaware. The question was whether or not they had discovered the project involved. Raines had to assume they had, which meant he would need to tread carefully and make certain the damage would be kept to a minimum.

"Yet they did not attempt to capture her," Raines stated.

"Of course not," Lyle sneered. "That would reveal she had knowledge about the girl and the project. She wouldn't risk being able to cry plausible deniability."

"Neither would you in the same situation," Raines pointed out,

Lyle snorted. "True." He shifted, plainly wanting to pace to vent the anger and irritation he did not hide well. "This is going to be a problem."

"Perhaps," Raines agreed. "Care to explain how the girl got the drop on you?"

Lyle fumed, face pinking over in what was most likely a combination of embarrassment and anger. "She knew we were coming," he growled, hands balling fists.

"Sydney, of course."

Lyle shook his head. "I doubt they arrived more than five minutes before we did. If they had made a call I would have known about it." He appeared to be beyond frustrated at his impotence at capturing the girl. "No, I would guess that her prized ability is just as functional as the rest of them."

As expected. But Raines could not let him off easy for the failure. "Which you should have been prepared for." Not that there was any chance of that. If the girl was even half of what they had been told, there had  _never_  been a chance she would be taken this time.

Lyle shook his head. "You don't get it. She  _knew_  we were coming. Our tranq darts didn't get anywhere near her.  _We were powerless_."

Of course they had been. Mr. Raines narrowed his eyes, trying to impress upon Mr. Lyle the epic nature of his failure, "Where is she now?"

"We don't know."

Not what Raines wanted to hear. They needed eyes on the girl; it was the only way to learn more about her abilities and weaknesses. Especially her weaknesses.

Lyle quickly added, "She did not leave with her partners and due to the circumstances at the time, we did not have eyes on her. I will know as soon as she returns to San Diego, we can grab her then."

Raines shook his head and walked over to his desk, sitting carefully, making certain not to tangle the lines for his oxygen tank. "No. She knows about us now, and will be wary. Find her. Watch her. I want regular reports. We will reassess the feasibility of bringing her in in three months."

Lyle nodded. Clearly relieved he would not be facing her any time in the near future. Jarod may have been trouble, but the girl... the girl was dangerous and not under their control, how she reacted in any given situation could be in a way detrimental to his continued existence. "I'll arrange it personally."

"Yes, you will," Raines said in clear dismissal and Lyle took the opportunity to escape.

Once gone from the room, Raines turned to his phone and pressed a single button of the dozens there. "Send him in," he ordered.

Less than a minute later the door opened and young man walked in.

"Well?" Raines questioned.

"Three angles, all crisp and clear. An exceptional example of her skills."

"Restrict access for the time being. I want the video examined in detail to determine exactly what she is capable of."

"As you wish, sir. Do you still want it included with the Oracle data?"

Now, that was a good question. Given that Sydney had most likely discovered and accessed the project files, it would be prudent to keep this new data elsewhere. "No. Create a new archive for this. Send me the info when it is up and running."

"Of course, sir. I'll have it ready by tonight."

Raines waited for the man to leave before turning to his computer and sliding the first of several disks into the drive, the raw video impressive all on it's own. Meeting Jarod at this time may have been unplanned, but clearly it had had one of the suspected and desired effects: her power increasing by an order of magnitude. Just imagine what the two of them could do together.

He looked forward to finding out.

 

**Private Residence**

**San Diego, California**

 

The box that sat outside her door was bigger than the super had suggested. She gave it the once over and, while she discovered electronics within, they appeared to be harmless and not tied to something potentially explosive. There was no return address, but the courier sticker was a company she recognized and that she knew to be legitimate. With only a twinge of concern she opened the door and shuffled the box inside with her feet. She tossed her other mail onto her dining table, hanging her coat and bag on the hooks next to the door.

She'd been home four days and had been going non-stop since arriving. Some serious debriefing had turned into several all-night sessions shoring up the security at the Agency. The Official, via Drake mostly, had begun making cautious inquiries into The Centre, and not liking what they had found so far. Not that there was much they could do. Protecting her from them would be a challenge at best and impossible at worst. Knowing they watched her gave them some small advantage  _if_  they could catch the watchers. Plotting was in the works to do exactly that, but until then she would just have to be cautious and hope to god they didn't try to grab her while sleeping or out of town when Agency protection would be nonexistent.

Nothing new in her life these days.

She took the time to open a bottle of wine and pour a glass before dealing with the box. She slid it over to the sofa and sat down. She grabbed a stray butter knife off the end table, wondering how she had managed to fail at putting it into the dishwasher, and used it to cautiously slice the tape on the box.

Parting the packing paper and bubble wrap she found a thick manila envelope with Leverage written across it. Deeper in she found the DSA and dozens of disks for it. Lots of information for her to go through. Part of her dreaded it, wishing that none of this had happened, that her past, her family was exactly as she remembered it, but it wasn't and while meeting Jarod had brought some very harsh realizations to light, she regretted nothing. He was a damn good man and she was honored to have had the chance to meet him.

Just as she was about to open the envelope her phone binged, alerting her to a new text message. She hoped from Darien, but had the feeling it wouldn't be. He hadn't responded to a single text or call since she'd gotten back. Admittedly, he and Bobby had been working screwy and long hours on a job, but did it take that long to just type  _hi_?

She flipped open the phone to see the words  _'You home?'_  from a Scrooge McDuck.

She smiled, not the least bit concerned about being texted by a cartoon character as she had a good idea who the human behind the cartoon nom de plume was. She replied with,  _'yes.'_

Mere moments later came,  _'Video call.'_

She walked over to her computer and woke it up. She'd added the video conferencing software as soon as she'd gotten home for just this reason. Of course, she'd made a few tweaks to the system to guarantee security and privacy, but this was her first opportunity to really test the system. Hopefully it would work as planned.

Mere seconds after the program finished loading the request came in and she accepted. She and Jarod had exchanged emails and texts since they'd parted ways, but had not spoken directly, they hadn't really needed to either, so she had to wonder why after just over a week apart he felt the need to speak more directly. Maybe he just missed her smiling countenance. She grinned as the connection went live.

_"Alyx, did you get the package I sent you?"_  Jarod asked her without preamble.

"What? No hello for your wayward sister?" Alyx questioned, the smile fading at the urgency she sensed even across the intervening distance. "Yeah, today."

_"Have you looked at it yet?"_  Jarod looked nervous or shocked, perhaps. Like he had when Sydney had revealed that the two of them were related.

"Just opened the box, haven't gone over any of it in detail. Why?" She wanted to close her eyes to get a better feel of him. She had found it shockingly simple to differentiate between him and Darien, in fact, after the adventure in Montana, she found it far easier to separate and compartmentalize all those she had a direct connection to. Darien still had the strongest link, but it remained the one she tried the hardest to block, especially with him still seemingly upset with her.

_"Get it, would you."_

"Sure." She left the computer and fetched the box, hefting it and balancing it in her arms. It was as heavy as it looked, but she didn't feel the need to use her powers to just carry it across the room. Setting it on the floor by her feet she sat back down in the chair. "Okay, what am I after?"

_"In the envelope, a file marked Family Tree,"_  he told her, look disturbingly solemn.

Alyx found the file and thumbed through the photos stopping in shock at one of a dark haired blue-eyed young man. "Who is this?"

_"My brother Kyle,"_  Jarod answered.  _"I was rather surprised myself."_

"It's Mikey. He really is my brother… our brother." Alyx didn't know what else to say. "Have you told him?"

_"Not yet. Kyle was... damaged by Raines and never had a real chance at... at anything."_  Jarod shook his head, the memories not happy ones.  _"They tore my family apart."_

"Jarod, you can't change the past..." She grinned, shaking her head. "Least I don't think you can." He managed a hint of a smile in response. "But you can make your future what you want it to be. And you have family that will happily help."

He sighed heavily.  _"I know, and I didn't mean to dismiss you and Michael out of hand, but... Is it greedy of me to want it all?"_

"No. It just means you are human." She wished she could wrap her arms about him, hold him close and reassure him that she would be there for him and would do anything in her power to reunite his... their family. "Mike is running DNA tests, perhaps you should do the same."

Jarod grimaced.  _"And use what for a comparison?"_

Alyx knew he would balk at this, but they all needed the truth, needed the details of their existence to truly have the footing to stand up against The Centre. "Ethan. You said he was your half-brother. Your father and Miss Parker's mother, correct?"

Jarod nodded.  _"Yes, but..."_  He stopped clearly thinking about the implications of doing this.  _"If Ethan really is my brother we'll have alleles in common, if not-"_

"Then Major Charles is not you biological father," she finished when he seemed unable to. "Of course, that is presuming you were told the truth about Major Charles being the father."

Jarod rubbed his face in his hands.  _"This sucks."_

"Yep, it does. But it's not all bad is it, Uncle Jarod?" He might not be related to Ethan, but he was most certainly uncle to her four hellions.

Jarod managed to find a grin for her.  _"How did you know?"_

"I recognize those pictures behind you." Especially since she had been there just four days ago. "I can be reasonably certain you are related to the holy terrors you are visiting."

_"No, not so bad."_ He produced a wide grin from somewhere in his depths. _"You have wonderful children, Michele. You should be here with them."_

Alyx sighed softly. Yes, she probably should be with them, wanted to be with them, but it would put them in far too much danger. "Jarod..." She shook her head. "I have my reasons for choosing as I did."

_"I know. And now that The Centre has taken full notice of you, coming home is even less viable than before."_  He turned his head, looking at something off camera.  _"They deserve as normal a life as possible and I will do what I can to assure that."_

"Thank you." There was more she wanted to say, but it should be said in person, not via video from thousands of miles away.

_"How are you, really?"_

"I'm okay. I'll survive one way or another." Alyx tried to smile, but failed utterly. "Thanks for the information. It'll be useful."

_"Alyx if you need anything..."_  Jarod began.

"Back at you. Go get to know your nieces and nephew. They need as many guardians as they can get," Alyx told him meaning every word. The kids needed family as much as Jarod did. Perhaps becoming a part of hers would ease some of the sadness he felt.

_"I will."_

The screen went dark and she closed the video chat window, leaving the default wallpaper in place. Alyx picked up her glass and drank down another large portion of wine without really tasting it. Part of her didn't want to deal with any of this, her life had been a topsy-turvy hot mess for far too long now and it seemed every time things had settled into some semblance of normal the rug was pulled out from under her feet yet again. With a mutter she decided to set up the DSA, then cook dinner and begin watching the videos while she ate.

She had texted Darien inviting him over if and when he got finished with work, but hadn't even received anything in reply. She got that she was upset with her, but had hoped he'd at least talk to her and give her a chance to explain, to try and make amends, to fix  _them_. She could not live with a broken relationship. She could survive being only friends, partners, but that was not what she wanted, or what she needed.

Wine in hand she walked into her kitchen to decide what she wanted to make for dinner.

 

~^~^~^~

 

He flipped open the phone and read the text for the hundredth time.  _'Done for the day. Stop by and say hi if you want.'_  It had been sent hours ago, while he and Hobbes had just handed over the stake out duties to Hill and Alice, freeing them to go home and catch a few hours sleep before starting this rodeo all over again tomorrow. It was late, too late to go over to her place, and yet... yet he really wanted to. Yeah, he'd been pretty much ignoring her texts and calls, but he  _had_  been working... Though that excuse had worn thin, especially when Hobbes had been pushing him to call her before she got shipped off again.

He glanced at the clock on the phone, cringing at the time revealed, betting she had already gone to bed for the night. Almost without conscious volition he keyed in,  _'You still up?'_

Within seconds the reply,  _'Yep, have lasagna if you're hungry,'_ appeared on his screen.

Well, there went that faint hope at continuing to avoid her.  _'Be by in a bit.'_  At that Darien had to stop and take stock. Did he really want to  _not_  spend time with her? Part of him thought that was a most wonderful idea, the longer he waited to talk to her, the longer it took for her to officially dump him, and while angry and upset he still wanted her. And then there was the other part, the part that kept telling him he was a total and complete idiot and she had no intention of running off with Jarod, much less anyone else, and wanted to be with him,  _just like she always said._

He sighed, tempted to text back that he needed to go home to sleep, but instead headed to his car intending to do as he'd said, and go to her place.

He arrived a fair thirty minutes later, having taken the longest route possible and with a stop for a couple bottles of wine just to delay as much as possible. The time had just made him question his decision to stop by even more. He'd had a long day, needed to input calories, sleep for a dozen hours, even though he knew he'd only get six if that, and... and do laundry, damn it. But he'd put this off long enough.

He pressed the buzzer, something he hadn't done in a very long time, but didn't feel right using his key, not tonight.

She slid open the door, in person, a tentative smile on her face. "Hey, bub, forget your key?"

He inhaled deeply and had to smother the groan at the smells emanating from her apartment. Lasagna, yes, but also garlic and bread, her homemade garlic knots if he wasn't mistaken. "You are cruel," he stated, then held out the bottles of wine for her to take.

"Yep, I most certainly am," she agreed, waving him inside. She juggled the bottles and shut the door, while he took off his coat and hung it next to hers.

He looked over the room while she walked to her kitchen with the wine. He could not help but notice the big ass brushed steel briefcase with what looked like an ancient video screen mounted into it. He had no clue what it might be, but it hadn't been part of the household accessories the last time he'd been here... several weeks ago. Damn, had it really been that long? There also appeared to be files on the table, the logo on them not one he recognized. "You working a new case?"

"Not exactly," she told him. "Hungry?"

His stomach growled loudly, answering the question for him. He'd had dinner around five, but it had been fast food and not nearly as satisfying as it could have been. Even though he'd done little more than sit and chat with Hobbes the entire time, his metabolism practically demanded that he eat often and in seemingly copious amounts. Truthfully, he was always hungry; sometimes it just wasn't food he hungered for.

He wanted her, right here, right now, and part of him hated that, and that it wouldn't change. "Yeah," he answered needlessly. "Food would be good."

She smiled and nodded and he followed her into the kitchen. He opened the bottles of wine while she set up plates for each of them. They carried the repast to the living room, where she made room on the coffee table by the simple expedient of moving the case and files into a semi-neat pile on the floor. "Sit," she mock-ordered, "and eat. You look like you've been living on In-n-Out for days."

"That's 'cause I have," he confirmed as he sat down on the wing of the sectional, placing the plate on the end of the table. He dug right in, just about all of the lasagna and two garlic knots gone before he came up for air and some wine. "Good lord, where did you find this?"

"Find? I made this from scratch." She shook her head and smiled. "I was in the mood to cook."

He glanced from her to the files and new toy on the floor. "Cook or avoid dealing with your... case?" Based on the look that crossed her face it was far more the latter. "Can I help?"

She shook her head. "Not really, moral support more than anything. And it's not a case, it's... information about The Centre."

"And Jarod," Darien grumbled, wondering why he should be surprised that her new boy toy had sent her gifts already. He quickly drank down the rest of the wine and refilled the glass.

"Yes, and Jarod." She sighed softly, leaning back into the cushions. "I'm willing to talk if you are willing to listen."

Darien felt his heart drop into his stomach, making the so recently eaten food sit uncomfortably. The talking part they needed to do, but wanting? Not really. But it had to be done, he got that. This limbo they'd been living in just wouldn't cut it anymore. "Did you sleep with him?" he asked, deciding to get the big one over with right away.

She remained cool and didn't even flinch at his bluntness, which kind of surprised him. "Don't you mean did I have sex with him?"

Well, looked like she would be being just as blunt. "Okay, yeah, that's what I mean."

"No, we did not have, sex, yes, we slept together to keep warm," she told him. She knuckled one eye, appearing tired all of a sudden.

"Then what was with all the hand holding back in Montana?" He felt confused. The looks, the contact, the trust she had exhibited back in Montana seemed to suggest something beyond casual friendship. Hell, it reminded him of when she'd hooked up with Garrett, that instant trust, which, in that case, had led to a relationship between the two. One that had not lasted long and ultimately benefited Darien, but still...

"I know you want answers, and I promise I will give them, but I need you to  _not_  make assumptions or rush to judgment. Can you do that, please?" Her voice didn't change throughout, which meant she was being extremely careful to not broadcast her emotions. And that could not bode well for what was to come.

"I... I'll try," he offered, not able to promise anything at this point. Granted, he was expecting the worst, his hope that this conversation would go in his favor slim at best.

She nodded. "Yes, I care about Jarod. Yes, he cares about me."

"But..." Darien shook his head, not understanding. There could only be one reasonable response to that. "I get it. I... I won't get in the way." Damn, that had been hard to say, but it was also the correct thing to do. If she could be happy with Jarod, then she deserved the opportunity.

Alyx blinked. "Won't get in the... Darien, Jarod is my brother."

Darien froze, confusion and relief coursing through him for long moments as he absorbed her statement. "Your... your brother?"

She nodded. "To be more precise, I am his female clone."

Darien sat there stunned. She and Jarod weren't going to be riding off in the sunset together. He had no idea what to say, had no clue what this meant in the grand scheme of things. "Brother?"

She laughed softly. "Yes, Darien, we just had our very own Star Wars moment."

He had to stop and rewind the conversation to get what she meant, but once he had, managed a chuckle in response. "So, you and Jarod..."

"Are  _not_  going to be running off together," she told him point blank. "All of this," She waved at the weird computer and assorted files," is to help me keep The Centre and their thugs at bay." She scratched the side of her neck waiting for Darien to say something.

"So, what about Mike? Is he your brother?" He didn't know what else to ask at her sudden and surprising revelation. Yeah, he was thrilled that she would not be leaving him for Jarod, but she had also just revealed that the person she'd thought she was, the person she so desperately tried to hold onto wasn't whom she'd thought. And that must be fucking with her mind right about now. Hell, had been for nearly two weeks now.

He could only be amazed that she remained so calm in the face of her entire existence being ripped to shreds.

"Yes, as it turns out he is actually my, and Jarod's brother."

"How?"

She got up and walked around the coffee table and to the files. She sorted through them, pulled out a single sheet and handed it to him. She sat next to him instead of walking all the way back around. It was a headshot of Mike, but something felt off, and it only took a moment to figure out what: both eyes were blue. "He's wearing a contact?" he guessed.

She shook her head. "Nope, that is not Mikey. That," She tapped the image on the nose, "is Jarod's full brother Kyle."

_Oh, holy shit._  "So, Mike's a clone too. This is so twisted."

"Man, tell me about it. I went back east to get Mikey up to speed on the situation."

"You could have told me Jarod was your brother when we were in Montana." He set the picture down and turned to look at her, the bruises on her cheeks having long since faded thanks to her enhanced healing ability.

She sighed. "Yeah, I could have, but would you have believed me?"

Okay, so she had a point. Between the Madness, and the wonky symptoms caused by the new inhibitor he probably would not have believed anything she had said even if she had the proof right there with her. And speaking of proof..."Aside from the uncanny resemblance of Mike and this Kyle, how do you know that  _any_  of this is true?"

"We have a paper trail proving my parents used this NuGenesis clinic for IVF, and we're running a full spectrum of DNA tests to verify all this, but it'll take a couple of weeks." She got to her feet, striding away from him, and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know who I am anymore," she whispered, sounding exhausted.

"Why is that? You're the same person you always were." He couldn't deny the weirdness of this news, and now understood Bobby's ongoing worry about her. "Has anything else changed?"

"Maybe?" She stopped across the room and turned back to look at him. "Meeting Jarod has... changed me... in here." She tapped her right temple.

"What does that mean?"

"Good fucking question," she groused. "I'm gonna be up front here, okay?"

"Oh-kay." This didn't sound good. He got to his feet and walked over and set his hands on her shoulders. "I said I'd listen, and that's what I'm going to do. Is this something I can help with?"

"I... I don't know. When I touched Jarod that one time, I got more than just info, I got  _him_ , and the link is permanent." She met his eyes, fear of his reaction to her statement obvious.

He didn't move, taking the time to figure out what that really meant. "He's family, right? Don't you have a link with Mikey and your kids?" She nodded. "Well, then that makes sense then. Why is it so important? You gonna run off with him anyway, to hide from The Centre?"

Bobby and Jarod had given as many details about the situation as they could, tried to explain the whole Pretender thing, but since he hadn't been quite right in the head, most of it had been lost on him. He had planned on asking Alyx, eventually and while now seemed like a good time, he sensed she wanted to move the conversation away from Jarod and The Centre and onto other, more personal topics.

"No. I have no plans to run away." She reached up and set fingers against his cheek, eyes drifting shut for a long moment.

"But you will still leave." And he hated that she would, hated that he would be left behind time and time again, that half of every month he was not part of her life. And he wanted to be part of her life, wanted to come home at the end of long day to find her waiting for him, wanted the perfect life with the perfect wife no matter how unreasonable that was. She was no housewife. She was a spy and worked damn hard and he wouldn't change a thing about her, he just wished she felt the same about him.

She opened her eyes, gaze oddly melancholy. "Yes, but I will  _always_  come back."

He shook his head, not believing her. Couldn't risk believing her and have it be a lie, have his heart broken into pieces yet again. He doubted he'd survive her loss another time. Twice had been far too many already.

"C'mon, D. the Official sold me to the CIA, married me off to a prince for fuck's sake and  _I came back._ " She paced away, and he turned following her as she moved about the apartment.

Hard to argue with that, especially since she'd gotten shot and nearly killed to pull off that crazy stunt. Of course, she could have warned him about what she had planned; there'd been opportunity, but she had chosen not to and he had spent an entire month thinking she had died. And that had only been the first time she'd done that, he'd damn near been shattered the second time she'd been forced to fake her death.

Little wonder he didn't want her out of his sight for any length of time. "But what if you don't want to?" he asked, wondering if sounded as mournful as he felt.

"Why wouldn't I want to?" She stopped and spun about to face him. "I gave up  _my family_  for you," she stated in a harsh whisper.

"Gave up your... How do you figure that?" The irritation must have been in his voice based on the narrowing of her eyes.

"Yes, Darien. You gave me the option to go home, to start over, with no memories of this," she waved a hand lazily about, "and I chose to stay... because of you." She turned away, one hand rubbing her forehead as if a headache had begun to build. "I won't marry you, because I can't give you the family you want and deserve, but that does not mean I don't want to spend my life with you."

"But you'd let me go if I found someone else?"

"Yes. So long as you were happy, I'd support you."

She'd told him that before, had even let him walk away, had walked away herself when he'd told her to, so he knew she would do exactly as she'd said, probably support him in the relationship no matter where it led. Damn. "I don't want anyone else," he told her. "I just don't know what to do about us."

"I have some thoughts on that if willing to listen a while longer." She crossed her arms over her chest, sounding desperate and hopeful.

He could walk, could drop it right here and now, move on, but while he feared what she might say, how she might hurt him if they remained together, he didn't want anyone else. They needed to work this out and now was as good a time as any to give it a try. He was here now, might as well listen to what she had to say. "Okay."

She managed a flicker of a smile. "Can we sit, please?"

He nodded and returned to the spot he'd staked out earlier. While she moved about the coffee table he poured each of them more wine, sensing they both needed it. He handed her a glass and said, "Drink." Only after she had swallowed a nervous mouthful did he say, "What do you have in mind?"

"Work is work and us is us."

"And never the twain shall meet?" he added, mostly as a joke, but she nodded. "Okay, why?"

"Because I don't want what either of us might have to do on the job to impact our relationship."

"Uh," he said in confusion, not really having a clue what she meant.

"Darien, I know you've been sent out on jobs where you've had to persuade your mark with, shall we say, a personal touch."

Well, crap, he hadn't realized she knew about any of that, it wasn't like he talked about it. "Alyx, I-"

She shook her head cutting him off. "I'm not angry. Once Claire realized you had full control of the Quicksilver even during... intimate moments, there was little chance the Official wouldn't send you out on jobs where you'd be using your looks to your advantage."

Darien felt stunned. Yeah, he'd played the part a few times, screwed it up a few too, bad enough that Hobbes had threatened him with CTS training. Whatever the hell that was. But those women, and one guy, much to his dismay, had meant nothing,  _been_  nothing but the job. "The Official sends you on jobs like that, doesn't he?"

She laughed. "He married me off, remember? Hell, my first big job, with Kirkland Geofferies..." She trailed off shaking her head. "They are just the job, even when I do sleep with them."

He felt his heart drop at the words. She had slept with... with the marks and not told him. He was tempted to just get up and storm out, but remained still, instead draining the glass of wine and pouring more, emptying the bottle. "You never told me."

She sighed. "Because it would hurt you to know. Because you have this tendency to get unreasonably jealous if another man we're working with even looks at me. You ever wonder why when we do work together these days the 'Fish _never_  sends me on a seduction job?"

"Oh," he mumbled. "I just... well, crap." He leaned back, running his hands through his hair. "And you don't get jealous?"

She shrugged. "I can't afford to, besides, I'd know if you had fallen for someone else." She tapped her temple.

"Right." Kind of unfair that she'd have inside info on him, but at the same time damn uncomfortable he imagined. She'd know what he was doing when and with who and… And she had never said a word about any of it. "So, we just leave work at the door? Even if we spent the afternoon screwing someone else?"

"Do you want to know? 'Cause I'll fill you in if you'd find that a viable solution." She sounded oddly hurt and he could only wonder why.

"No. Unless something happens that I... we... the other needs to know about. We leave work at the door." It was the only reasonable solution. It wouldn't be easy, for either of them, the keeping of secrets, but if they were work secrets - they had each done any number of jobs that they could not discuss at all - that he was pretty certain he could live with it and that was the important part. "Is... is this a subject we can revisit if necessary?" Tentative, yes, but he got the distinct impression she had a goal and was slowly leading both of them towards it.

"Of course. Darien, I don't intend to dictate rules in our relationship. I know I have my issues, and can't easily talk about some things, but I'm going to try." She shifted, swirling the wine remaining in her glass, but didn't drink. "Starting right now."

"Alyx..."

She shook her head and he shut up. She'd been blocking him but good since he'd arrived, but now her emotions leaked out, her desperate need to say what she needed to say mixed with fear of his response to those words that were yet to be. He did the only thing that made sense and nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"You know Jess abused me, both physically and mentally. Part of that was to use... how I felt about him to manipulate me." She turned away, unable to face him while she spoke, as if she thought he would blame her for what that shithead of a husband had done to her.

He put down the glass of wine and moved, settling next to her on the sofa. He grasped one of her hands, twining their fingers and felt her first stiffen, then relax at the contact. "In what way?" he prompted, hoping to ease the pain on her heart as she spoke.

She managed to meet his eyes. "He used my... my love for him to try to break me."

"Damn," Darien muttered, having suspected that, but only now having it confirmed. Little wonder she resisted her feelings for him for so long.

"When I came here, agreed to work for the Agency, I promised myself I would do it alone, that I would never find myself beholden to another... and then I met you." She gave his hand a squeeze, her emotions a tangled mess that he could not make heads nor tails of. "I... you know how I feel about you, but it has never been enough, and I'm sorry for that. Jess twisted me up so bad that my perspective on... on love is just as twisted."

"Love? Alyx, what are you saying?" Hope surged within him, hope that his concerns about her feelings for him had been nothing but fluff and bother.

She sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. "I mean when I hear that... that word my memory brings up a selection of less than happy images in all their full Technicolor glory, complete with surround sound.

Darien should have known that, her perfect memory wasn't just words or images, but the full spectrum of emotions, a replay of exactly what had occurred. Little wonder she'd never done more than share how she felt viscerally, she couldn't, not without warping what she felt for him. "So what has changed?"

"Someone, with far more intelligence than me obviously, suggested that maybe I should try creating some new memories, some  _good_  memories to associate with that word. And I think he's right." She turned about, drawing her legs up onto the sofa and looked right into his eyes. "I may not be able to say it often, but that makes it no less true. I love you, Darien Fawkes, and will do whatever it takes to keep you in my life."

Darien felt his heart stop for a long moment before jerking back into startled motion at triple the speed. His fingers and toes felt icy cold and he knew without looking that Quicksilver coated them, and he swallowed with some difficulty, trying to get his heart rate back under control before he disappeared completely. It was only after he calmed and could hear more than the blood pounding in his ears that he fully absorbed the declaration she'd just made.

Only seconds had passed since she had spoke, time seeming to have slowed in direct proportion to the increase of his heartbeat. With deftness he plucked the empty glass from her hand, set it aside, and then pounced, his lips finding hers as he tumbled her onto her back, hands buried in her hair. She seemed stunned at first, but then her body softened under his. Her curves fitting perfectly against his firmer frame. Just as she always had. That disparity in height vanishing once horizontal.

That wall in her mind she'd been desperately holding onto in an effort to keep her emotions from influencing him fell apart, rendering him momentarily immobile. So much fear, such desperate hope, and under it all that ever present sense of peace. Now, he understood, that peace was due to him, to his being in her life.

He shifted, arms braced beside her head to look down at her. "You love me?"

She nodded, biting her lower lip as if unsure she should repeat the words aloud.

"Well, that's a good thing I s'pose," he told her, hoping to garner a smile instead of the far too serious look currently adorning her features.

"And... and why is that?" Her voice actually shook on the words, afraid that now she had made the ultimate statement that he would follow in her former husband's footsteps and simply use her feelings to get what he wanted and then toss her away when she was no longer of any real use.

" 'Cause I fell for you the first time we met." He lowered his head and kissed her tenderly on the forehead, reveling in the barely audible sigh she allowed to escape.

"I beat you up the first time we met," she pointed out, a smile trying to curve her lips upward.

"Yep, you did, but I kinda deserved it," he agreed, trailing kisses along the curve of her cheek, down her neck, then back to that insanely sensitive spot below her ear, her head turning just enough to grant him better access. "I love you," he whispered, feeling her shiver in reaction, "and will do whatever it takes to keep you in my life." He bit her on the side of the neck, just hard enough to make her gasp, but not nearly hard enough to truly cause her pain.

"Shit," she muttered, her body completely limp and pliable beneath him.

He could feel the conflicting emotions his words had stirred up, but continued his languorous exploration of her body, making every effort to erase at least one of those horrible memories with those he created right now. Lips against the skin of her throat he asked, "What?"

"That... that's the first time you've said that to... to me," she stated, voice shaking, though in surprise or relief he couldn't be certain.

"I know. I just... I was chicken," he admitted a touch ruefully and it was true enough. Given his propensity for a decided lack of self-worth, his ill luck with women and relationships, he could, he supposed, justify being gun shy about admitting his feelings first. He just hadn't had a clue she had some of the same issues. She'd had one major relationship in her life and it had been used to beat her down and control her. Little wonder she'd fought him so hard, when he had pushed ever harder to get her to admit what he had known all along - that she loved him and wanted to be with him.

And in that moment realization struck and everything clicked into place. The whys he'd asked over and over again, the questions that had come up, none of them answered, simply because he hadn't had the courage to ask  _her_. Fearing she would retreat behind that mask she'd worn for so long, and never come out again. She might not have been able to say how she felt, but she had shown him in every _thing_  she did. Working with Kevin to find a way to get the gland out and, when that failed, to go ahead and fund the research on her own. She allowed him to be himself, hell, encouraged him even. Saw him, Darien Fawkes, and accepted him as who he was, flaws and all, and even after all the horrible things he'd done to her, the accusations, the hurtful commentary, even after all of it,  _she still loved him_.

Damn, could he be a bigger fool?

Quite possibly, he had to admit, but he would make every effort to refrain for the next little while so as to make this a positive memory for her.

He sighed softly. "I don't know why you put up with me."

She grinned. "I've told you before, to reach items on high shelves."

He laughed and kissed her soundly, reveling in her presence for long minutes. When he came up for air he laughed at the look of utter contentment on her face. He shifted, propping his head up on one arm. "So, does this mean we can stop avoiding each other?"

"Hey," She poked him with one finger firmly into his chest, "I have not been the one doing the avoiding the last week."

Okay, that had indeed been him, and he was damn glad he'd decided to come over tonight, to hell with the stakeout, or whatever crap the Official came up with. "Sorry about that."

"S'okay. I get you were... confused about the Jarod thing." She shifted slightly, that one finger now tracing random shapes across his torso instead of trying to leave fingertip shaped bruises on his pecs. "I was wondering..." She stopped cold, shaking her head. "Never mind."

"Wondering what?" His free hand found its way into her hair, twining the strands about his fingers, enjoying the softness of the curls.

"I... I was wondering if you might want to move in together?" The question was tentative at best, but also totally unexpected.

"Uh, left field?"

She chuckled. "No, not really. I want to show you I mean this, that I want this to work between us, and for you to have some assurance that I'm not going anywhere and that when I come home, that I'll be coming home  _to you._ " She shrugged, her hand moving to cup his cheek, thumb trailing lightly across his lips.

He gently bit her thumb, causing her to suck in a breath, color flushing her face. "That would be nice," he told her, his heart again pounding at the idea alone. "Your place or mine." Hers would be the better choice, obviously, given the miniscule size of his so-called apartment. No way her stuff would fit there, while she even had room for his pool table; once he convinced her, that is.

"Actually, I was thinking we'd find a new place. Together."

Now that sounded like a grand idea. A place of their own, where they could start a real life together. "I like the sound of that."

"Is that a yes?" Still tentative, as if she feared even now that he would reject her.

Well, he would just have to prove his commitment to them and to making some new memories for her to savor. "Yes," he agreed. "But we'll save the apartment hunting for tomorrow if that's okay."

"Why?" she asked, even as he leaned down to press his lips against the hollow of her throat, tongue moving hotly along her skin, tasting her as if starving. Hungry? No, ravenous would be a far better description, and it was going to take quite some time for him to be sated, of that he was quite sure.

He lifted his head to look her right in the eyes. "Because you are going to be otherwise occupied for the next few hours," he told her, shifting so as to gain better access to the buttons of her shirt and begin undoing them.

"But-"

He shut her up with a searing kiss that ended with her shirtless and demanding that he continue with the distracting from the speaking thing.

When he finally allowed her to come up for air, she smiled, a real smile and suggested they adjourn to her bed, for while the sofa was comfy, there was far more room to play under canopy. Putting action to the words he scooped her up in his arms and carried her there.

She laughed as he lowered her onto the bed, shedding his shoes and shirt before joining her on the wide expanse of cushioned comfort. She lay there, hair fanned out around her head, the light picking up the golden highlights imbedded within, her eyes a bright glorious silver counterpoint to the red and gold. "Damn," he muttered, feeling that obnoxious tingle at the back of his skull signaling that he'd be spending half his time fighting for control.

"What?" she asked, reaching for him, encouraging him to come closer.

"Just plotting how to make this particular memory an exceptional one." He dipped his head down to place a delicate kiss on her lips, while doing so focusing on that mental connection between them to make certain she could feel everything he did, to make certain that she knew without a doubt that he loved her.

She whimpered and reached for him, giving up on her vain efforts to not allow her emotions to consume him and in an instant they were both swept away.

 

 

" _Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen."_

_And such sweet madness it can be._

 

 

 

_finis_


End file.
